This new brand of wine is so (bleeping) New Jersey
(JEFF EDELSTEIN COLUMN)
Yeah, you read that right. (Submitted photo)
When it comes to wine, I am not a connoisseur. I suppose I know what tastes lousy, but I am not someone who will ever say something like, “The floral notes in the tannins gently slope down my Bordeaux nose whence I hint a bit of peach and tobacco in the gullet.”
Yeah. Either I like it, or I don’t. And even if I don’t, I’m still probably going to drink it, especially assuming the beer and bourbon are already gone.
So to say I’m a “wine snob” would be like calling a bald eagle an “envelope.” It’s just not part of who I am.
Basically, it’s either good f*cking wine, or it isn’t.
And that was pretty much the thought of Scott
Maybaum, the president of the north-Jersey based Wine Country
Management. Maybaum, who has been in the booze business for most of
his adult life, owns and operates liquor stores under the Wine Country brand
and has also been active in the private label world.
And last year, after a United States Supreme Court ruling, Maybaum had his lightning strike: Create a solid bottle of wine that tastes great and is affordable. And name it “Good F*cking Wine,” because that’s exactly what it is.
Fast forward to today, and the wine - a red blend - is about to hit liquor stores all over New Jersey in a few weeks. And there’s no asterisk, no blurred-out pictures. It’s just “Good F*cking Wine.” Again though: No asterisk.
I can’t think of a more New Jersey bottle of wine.
JIMMY: Whaddya think of the wine?
PAULIE: This is good f*ucking wine!
See?
“The genesis of the name is directly related to the taste of the wine,” Maybaum told me. “In conversation with winemaker, it was the first thing that came to me, that this is really good f*cking wine.”
And due to a clothing company called FUCT, Maybaum’s idea to go full-bore in the f-word department is perfectly legal, thanks to the Supreme Court. Over the summer, the court voted 6-3 to uphold free speech, no matter how blue the material. The court struck down rules that prevented business owners from trademarking “immoral” or “scandalous” material.
Maybaum saw an opening, and blew right f*cking
through it.
“Some people may be put off by the name, but enough people will get it, and I’m confident enough people will like the taste,” Maybaum said. “Listen, this has to be a quality wine, and it is. I don’t just want to sell a gimmick. I want to develop a business. We’re targeting this as a $15 bottle of wine, and I know it will stand up to something more expensive in a blind test.”
Maybaum is also seeking to change the conversation when it comes to “curse” words.
“So many people use it in their common, everyday language to emphasize something good,” he said. “People shouldn’t get so stuck on the word.”
I couldn’t agree more. The fact we could put a man on the moon but clutch our pearls when someone strings four letters together boggles my mind. There are no “bad” words; there are just words that hurt if used in a hurtful manner. And no one is getting hurt when someone says, “Man, this is some good f*cking wine!”
I’m not even going to use a wine glass when I get my first sample of this stuff. Just going to slug it straight out of the bottle and wipe off my mouth on the cuff of my shirt. Feels right.