It’s Rainbow Ridge, a gay-owned winery in Palm Springs, California, which launched its signature red wine, Alicante Bouschet, with the advertising slogan "We’re Coming Out." Since their 2003 debut with their first varietal red wine, and the subsequent production of a Rainbow Ridge Chardonnay, great things have been happening for the company.

Since targeting sales within their own community, Rainbow Ridge co-owners Dennis Costa and Tom Beatty have seen their premier release—a mere 2,000 cases of the Alicante Bouschet —take the wine world by storm.

The wine won a 90 rating by the prestigious Wine & Spirits Magazine and a Bronze medal in the San Francisco Chronicle’s 2003 wine competition. The wine received a 91 rating from Wine Enthusiast magazine last summer. Now, with both the red and white wines in release, the company is aiming for 24,000 cases this year and lots more good press and awards.

Costa started out with his family, home-growing wine grapes. He then worked for Mondavi and learned the aging and bottling process.

Today, the grapes for Rainbow Ridge wines come from a vineyard owned by Costa’s uncle and cousin. They used to be sold to the likes of Gallo wines. Now, they will be used to make a name for Rainbow Ridge.

As for the Alicante Bouschet, its selection as their first wine grape was deliberate. According to Costa, the grape is relatively obscure, They started with it because "we wanted to go after something a little different, like we are." Even their marketing description of the wine comes with a smile—they describe it as "fruit forward with a fabulous finish."

The grape itself is described as "rustic" in a recent review, in Wine & Spirits, with comments about the new wine including "(it) transcends the simple fruit with a warmth you can feel at the back of your throat and all the flavor radiates in the finish."

While the Rainbow Ridge grape logo and aggressive marketing plan target "pink dollars" and the gay and lesbian consumer, the winery’s founders understand that quality comes before marketing.

Their wine-maker is Chad Joseph, who Costa says "does magic with the grapes." The winery intends to take their visibility as a "gay owned winery" and turn it into "one of the wine greats on any table, gay or otherwise," Costa says.

"It’s wonderful to have input and say-so all along the wine-making and distributing process," Costa says, "but distribution is the key, and we are working hard to get our name out."

"We’re not wine snobs," Dennis says, explaining that they now have distributors in 30 states for their winery, but still not in their home state of California. "We’re just out to have fun and make good wine," he says, "and we don’t seem to be snobby enough for California. The South and East have really embraced us."

To reach their goals, Rainbow Ridge is determined to be visible in gay and lesbian markets like Rehoboth Beach. For the past two years Rainbow Ridge has sponsored the Palm Springs Pride event, but the upcoming Rehoboth festival is the largest event they have participated in outside California.

While the winery is committed to giving back to the community, sponsoring gay events and having a strong gay visibility, they say they don’t see their product as a gay wine, rather as a great wine made by a gay company.

As a matter of fact, the company itself has big plans. Dennis and Tom are in the process of putting together an Initial Public Offering for the company, making it the first gay company IPO. They intend to make a huge splash in both the wine and financial industries, as the first recognized publicly traded gay corporation. As such, they want to focus on wines of exceptional caliber while promoting positive images of the global gay community.

Dennis and Tom are making plans to be in Rehoboth for the upcoming festival. They have put together a whirlwind schedule of wine tastings and events to introduce as many people as possible to Rainbow Ridge Winery and their out and proud marketing campaigns. Come take a taste of Rainbow Ridge wines on the weekend of April 23-25—the winemakers want to be sure you "have a grape day!"

Meet the Proprietors and Representatives of Rainbow Ridge Wines

Fri., April 23: 
Meet and Greet, 5-7 p.m. at Dish!
Wine Dinner, 7 p.m. at Espuma

Sat., April 24: 
Wine Tasting, 3-5 p.m. Bin 66 Wines & Spirits
Wine Luncheon, noon at Eden Café
Wine Dinner, 7 p.m. at Planet X

Sun., April 25: 
Wine Brunch, 10 a.m.-1 p.m Sea Witch Manor
Wine Luncheon, 1-3 p.m. at Blue Moon
Wine Tasting, 3-5 p.m. at S&S Liquors
Wine Dinner, Eden Café