Winemaker creates Jarhead Red to benefit marines

[thedrifter]

Winemaker creates Jarhead Red to benefit marines
Associated Press
Jan. 12, 2006 08:35 AM

LOS ANGELES - Marine veteran Adam Firestone is looking for a few good wine drinkers.

He's created Jarhead Red. The winemaker bottled 40 cases of Jarhead Red in 1999 at the suggestion of his former Marine recruiter.

Sales of the wine benefits the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation. Jarhead Red proved to be so successful, Firestone says he's produced more than 1,000 cases.

Firestone says Jarhead Red is a Cabernet Sauvignon with a splash of Merlot. Leathernecks might not seem like wine sippers, but Firestone says the success of Jarhead Red proves otherwise.

Ellie

[GunnyL]

Where do I get mine?

GunnyL

[ringoffire]

JarHead Red is available directly from Firestone Vineyards at (800) 910-3940. Ohio residents must pay a state tax via a form that comes with the wine.

State laws prohibit shipment into Kentucky.

JarHead Red is also available at several Web sites, including www.cwmerchants.workzsites.com.

go to wine specials

[Osotogary]

It would be great if they could bottle it in the shape of a canteen.

[mrbsox]

It would be great if they could bottle it in the shape of a canteen.


Hmmmmm...
I think I smell a cartoon :banana:

[thedrifter]

January 12, 2006
Jarhead Red: A wine Marines can call their own
By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer

OCEANSIDE, Calif. – Need a hearty red to go with that MRE? How about a glass of “Jarhead Red?” That’s the name of a cabernet red wine developed by two former Marines and bottled by Firestone Vineyard, a winery in the Santa Ynez Valley town of Los Olivos.

Adam Firestone, a former Marine Corps captain and Desert Storm veteran-turned CEO, developed the stout wine about five years ago which he bottled and distributed in limited amounts for “birthday balls,” tournaments and other events. “Wine is a great way to get a conversation going and get people talking and chatting,” said Firestone, who served on both active duty and in the Reserve from 1984 to 1991.

Firestone tossed the idea of a leatherneck wine around with friends and associates and one day said to his secretary, “Call it this, call it that, call it ‘Jarhead Red.’”

She didn’t understand, he said.

Firestone wanted to make wine that would please the palates of Marines, whether wine connoisseurs or wine amateurs. “I said we’ve got to find a batch that’s strong and red,” he recounted. And he wanted its sale to be a fundraiser for the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, which helps the children of Marines killed or wounded.

With the help of Ruben Dominguez, a former Marine sergeant and his vineyard foreman, Firestone made his first batch in 2001 with a combination of cabernet and merlot grapes, and he bottled it with specially-designed red-and-white labels. Jarhead Red became an instant hit. Each year has brought a new batch, and last month, the company decided to offer the wine to the general public.

Since then, the $10 the winery gets for each bottle sold is given to the charity, which he said recently awarded a $10,000 scholarship.

Firestone said at times he’s surprised by the growing popularity and response he gets about the wine. “All the doubters from the beginning said that Marines don’t drink wine,” he said. “They like to pretend they aren’t cultured, but (not so) at the end of the day.” Interest in the wine is coming all across the board. “An Army paratrooper emailed me the other day and wanted a case,” Firestone said.

They’re having some fun with it. While some orders might be sent out with basic instructions on uncorking the bottle, he said, for some Marine buyers the instruction included, “return Ka-bar to sheath.”

“We just ran out, and we’re packaging right now a whole new batch,” he said.

Firestone said he didn’t set out to make a brand with the wine, but he wanted to help the cause and spread the word about the scholarship foundation. The wine’s popularity, he noted, “was supposed to be an afterthought.”

Want your own bottle? You can order it online from Firestone Vineyard.

Ellie

[Amtracs]

I bought a bottle a McDill AFB, last week. The Manager of the package told me that it is popular and that all branches were buying it in support of the charity.

[Mama]

There's a local store here in KC that carries it as well...it is a really good wine....

So far I've found it goes well with not only steaks and italian food, but shark steaks and salmon too...a nice full bodied all around great table wine :D

[GunnyL]

For those who can't find it at a wine store near you, Firestone vinyards sells it online. I ordered two bottles today. Here's the link:
http://www.shopfirestone.com/store/product.asp?dept_id=1&pf_id=062
It's only available to be shipped to a limited number of states though!