Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Rosé: now the official drink of entitled assholes

This guy guzzles rosé. Courtesy Elizabeth Lippman/New York Post
Ten years ago, you couldn't get American men to drink rosé. Wine and food writers certainly tried. We'd write about how food-friendly it is, and how it's great when you want a red wine but hot weather makes drinking reds unpleasant. Didn't work; men wouldn't touch it.

I don't know what turned around rosé's fortunes in the U.S. A lot of marketers are selling theories, because rosé is now one of the trendiest drinks, especially on the East Coast, where people want to be seen drinking the proper thing. Maybe it was Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's rosé. Maybe it was an echo of a trend in France, where rosé was never unpopular, but is now bigger than ever. Who knows.

However it happened, in less than a decade rosé has gone from an old person's porch quaff to the official drink of entitled assholes.

Check out this story from the New York Post. An executive of the clothing company J. Crew laid off members of his team, then went out to parrrrrty. He and three coworkers who were not among the 175 laid off sent out Instagram photos of their dopey-faced good times with hashtags including #gonegirl. How fun would it be to see those in your feed if you just lost your job? Not as much fun as that guy in the photo to the right had sending them.

Corporate America has no shortage of entitled assholes; arguably they are one of its top products. But what do you generally imagine these assholes drinking? Light beer? Vodka and tonic? Cab from a 5-pound bottle?

I can't get over this phrase from the story: "The rosé-guzzling gang also included retail men’s merchandiser Andrew Ruth and J.Crew employee Julie Stamos."

Usually we don't notice that society has changed until after it happens. That guy in the photo, fondling the pink slip in his pocket for an underpaid employee whose work he took credit for? That's a rosé drinker now.

Follow me on Twitter: @wblakegray and like The Gray Report on Facebook.

(P.S.: Yes, I too like rosé.)

8 comments:

Francly Speaking said...

Great piece, especially the headline... We made Rose for a few vintages just before the tide turned in it's favor. For a red wine producer who did not 'have' to saigner it became a reverse Jesus miracle, turning a $25 bottle into a $15 bottle... and forbid you have any stock left on Labor Day!

Kayla K said...

Cheeky. From where I'm sitting, a park bench swiping through Instagram instead of watching squirrels, I see rosé as just trendy. Never mind that we both know it's delicious, easy to drink and pairs well with food, it's just plain cool to drink. To quote my friend who is also a well paid engineer in San Francisco, "It taste like strawberries!" as he swirled and swigged his glass of V.Sattui Gamay Rouge. Let them drink rosé, they'll come over to the Petite Sirah soon enough. Plus, rosé is just fun to say. Fun article, thanks again for writing.

Soul Adventurer said...

As I sit here drinking a glass of rosė...

W. Blake Gray said...

Soul: Not all rectangles are squares.

Divine Miss M said...

You left out the key word. #Dry#rosé is what's happening. It's been a long time coming. Personal bias: #Sangiovese and #PinotNoir make the best dry rosés.

Mc scumbag said...

Well this sounds like someone who enjoyed a piece of music. Then that person gets angry when others enjoy that same piece of music at a later time. All the time they were yearning for someone to enjoy the thing that they were enjoying without understanding the meaning of enjoy.

Mc scumbag said...

Well this sounds like someone who enjoyed a piece of music. Then that person gets angry when others enjoy that same piece of music at a later time. All the time they were yearning for someone to enjoy the thing that they were enjoying without understanding the meaning of enjoy.

Mc scumbag said...

Well this sounds like someone who enjoyed a piece of music. Then that person gets angry when others enjoy that same piece of music at a later time. All the time they were yearning for someone to enjoy the thing that they were enjoying without understanding the meaning of enjoy.