Bartles & Jaymes is a flavored wine cooler and malt beverage line produced by the E & J Gallo Winery in the United States, introduced in 1985, and available in various fruit flavors.
Initially producing wine-based coolers, Bartles & Jaymes switched to solely malt-based coolers in 1991, when the federal excise tax on wine was raised. In 2019 Gallo resumed making wine-based coolers, although the product line remains mostly malt-based.
TV commercials
The product line is remembered for its folksy television commercials, created by Hal Riney, which ran from 1984 to 1991. Two older gentlemen characters, Frank Bartles and Ed Jaymes, sat on a front porch and related their new discoveries or projects on which they were working. The characters were patterned after the winery's founders, Ernest and Julio Gallo. Occasionally ads would be a twist on the idea of senior citizens or folksiness, such as having the pair fly an old-fashioned biplane over a beach, then airdrop crates of their product which were received by grateful young party animals. Bartles did all the talking, and ended each commercial with the tagline, "... and thank you for your support."
David Rufkahr played Frank Bartles and Dick Maugg played Ed Jaymes. Prior to their work on the ads, neither Rufkahr nor Maugg had been an actor: Rufkahr, a career Air Force veteran and cattle rancher from Redmond, Oregon, won the job in a talent search, whereas Dick Maugg was a general contractor from Santa Rosa, California.
David Rufkahr died of a heart attack in April 1996, in Bend, Oregon, at the age of 61. Dick Maugg died of cancer in Santa Rosa on July 28, 2015; he was 83. His death was reported to news outlets by his family on October 27, 2015.
In popular culture
Indie folk band The Mountain Goats reference Bartles & Jaymes on the song "You or Your Memory" from their 2005 album The Sunset Tree.
The Lonely Island references Bartles & Jaymes on the song "3-Way (The Golden Rule)" from their 2013 album The Wack Album.
Band of Horses reference Bartles & Jaymes on the song "Neighbor" from their 2010 album Infinite Arms.
Indie singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek references Bartles & Jaymes on the song "My Love for You is Undying" from his 2018 self-titled album.
In the 2008 film The Hottie and the Nottie, the character June Phigg is shown drinking Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers.
Rapper Spice 1 references Bartles & Jaymes in the song "187 Proof" from his 1992 self-titled album Spice 1.
Weird Paul Petroskey references Bartles & Jaymes in the song "Wine Coolers" from his 2006 album Medically Necessary and 2012 album 25 Years of Lo-Fi.
Joshilyn Jackson’s 2021 psychothriller novel Mother May I references Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers (pg 126), describing them as “sticky-sweet.”
John C. McGinley's character (Doctor Cox) in Scrubs makes a reference to it in one of his rants towards Zach Braff's character (J.D.).
Rapper LL Cool J references "sipping on this Bartles & Jaymes premium peach flavored wine cooler" in the track "To da Break of Dawn" from his 1990 album Mama Said Knock You Out.
Pauly Shore referenced Bartles & Jaymes in the movie Son in Law.
Wonder Woman 1984 references Bartles & Jaymes, as Kristen Wiig's character is shown drinking one during a lunch scene with Gal Gadot.
References
- "The Weird and Wavy History of Wine Coolers". vice.com. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
- "Bartles & Jaymes Disappeared After the '80s. Now, It's Making Wine Coolers...Cool Again". esquire.com. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- patofnavar (23 April 2007). "Retro Bartles & Jaymes Commercial Perfect Ice Topping". Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 7 August 2017 – via YouTube.
- "Santa Rosa man who starred in 'Bartles and Jaymes' TV ads dies". 27 October 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
- "The Mountain Goats – You or Your Memory". Retrieved 7 August 2017.
- "The Lonely Island (Ft. Justin Timberlake & Lady Gaga) – 3 Way (The Golden Rule)". Retrieved 7 August 2017.
- "Mark Kozelek – My Love for You Is Undying Lyrics | Genius Lyrics".