B & J Wine Cooler Co. 1985 Tapestry

Wine coolers were a play on the spritzer, a drink diluted with carbonated water that has been around since the 1800s. Homemade wine coolers were made from white wine and lemon-lime soda, but in the ’80s, wine coolers began hitting store shelves with all kinds of fruit flavors, quickly becoming popular with consumers. These were all actual blends of cheap white wine, carbonated water, and fruit flavors. Things were looking good for the wine cooler market, but Congress decided to rain on their parade in January 1991 when they quintupled the excise tax on wine. This made wine blending bad business and ushered in the era of the malt beverage, and without the need to balance flavors with white wine, flavors became even crazier.