Carlo Rossi Jug Wine: Making Me Smile

Rossispeakers

I’ve been saving this post for today because it really is a “Friday-kind-of-blog-post” subject.

I think I’ve discovered my favorite winery website: Carlo Rossi.

You will likely recall Carlo Rossi from your youth or from the grocery store or drug store aisle where you got to pick up your margarita mix. Carlo Rossi is a jug wine producer owned by E and J Gallo. They put wine in big 4 liter jugs.

Rossiwine
They produce wines like “Paisano”, “Rhine”, “Chablis”, “Sangria” “Burgundy”, and “Vin Gris”. They have descriptions of all their wines on the web site but for the life of me I can’t tell the difference between the wines from their descriptions. But then, that’s the point.

These guys have their tongues so deeply embedded in their cheek that the entire dimple has been erased.

The highlight of the site must be the “My Furniture” page. Here we learn how to make stereo speakers, chandeliers, coffee tables and shelves….all out of of empty Carlo Rossi jugs. Every item includes schematics for their construction. Some items require many people to help construct because you need to drink LOTS of Carlo Rossi wines to have the jugs necessary to create these unique….Rossichand“furniture items”.

I’m prepared to believe that I won’t enjoy Carlo Rossi wines because my palate has
evolved since I began stealing these types of Jug wines from my parent’s garage when I was 18 and drinking them on a deserted golf course at night with my buddies.

That said, I swear to God I’m tempted to make one of these pieces of furniture. And what gets me is I can’t quite lay my finger on the reason why. I do know that the Carlo Rossi website is pretty brilliant stuff. It doesn’t serve to sell wine. It doesn’t convince me I might actually like the wine. and it tells me next to nothing about the wine. However, it does make me smile. And sometimes, when your business doesn’t depend at all on offering enlightening material on its website, provoking a smile is a job very well done.


14 Responses

  1. Dan - July 28, 2006

    If you like their website, you will love the Wine Library tasting.
    http://tv.winelibrary.com/2006/07/26/argentine-malbecs-episode-59/
    and then go to the very end. It is a hidden tasting…

  2. Fredric Koeppel - July 28, 2006

    If I could have saved all the empty bottles from the Carlo Rossi Paisano we drank in graduate school, you could made a house and fill it with glass furniture.

  3. Ben Bicais - July 28, 2006

    Interesting reading, it definitely brings back memories of high school. I really like the old commercials on the Carlos Rossi website too. They’re about as unpretentious as you can get.

  4. Gene - August 26, 2006

    Per the CarloRossi.com, Carlo would be 103 in 2006. I have been trying to figure out if he was real indivual named “Carlo Rossi” or cousin of the MayTag man and the other Gallo creations – Frank Bartles and Ed Jaymes.

  5. Lisa Dovichi-Braden - August 19, 2007

    As one of the grandaughters of Carlo & Mary Rossi just to think his wine and bottles are making a comeback for another generation is great. Here’s to more jug wine.

  6. yajaira - October 14, 2007

    since i could remember my parents have drank this wine and now im and i love the taste!!!!!

  7. Mike - December 13, 2007

    Another great post! Wines are taking off all over the country and some of the best are yet to come. I have found that you can now make a very high qulaity wine at home. This site has extensive info on how to produce terrific wines yourself. Check it out! http://www.HomemadeWine4u.com

  8. JDB - June 19, 2008

    CAN YOU TELL ME EXACTLY WHY THE 4L JUG OF BURGANDY NEED BE REFRIGERATED AFTER OPENING?

  9. william - October 11, 2008

    I have a question I got a bottle of Carlo Rossii and it is almost 10 years old and unopened does the alcohol content get stronger and also does the flavor get better.

  10. james - June 5, 2009

    I’m building a place where people can share their favorite wine recipes. Check it out at
    http://brewityourself.simplwebsite.com/

  11. Rocco Micciulla - November 24, 2009

    2nd request for answer to “how much sugar in a glass of carlo rossi paisano

  12. Rocco Micciulla - January 31, 2013

    ….probably the very best Sangria on the market today. Naturally sweet, delicious flavor.

  13. Vivian Mackenzie - July 26, 2015

    Take it form me a wine connoisseur. This is some of the best wine coming out of California today for the price. It agrees with your body and it’s rich favor of the fruits. There was a time in my life, I would not drink California wines. Until I tried Carlo Rossi Burgandy. I still enjoy it for over 10 years………

  14. Keisha - December 9, 2018

    I bought a bottle of carlo rossi California white wine about 9 years ago and today I checked and it is now brown with sediments in it is it okay to drink? No it is unopened.


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