Nation’s first gay-oriented wine launched

Jennifer Shubinski

Thursday, July 24, 2003 | 11:14 a.m.

A company with Las Vegas ties is marketing itself as the nation's first gay-owned winery -- and is achieving crucial support for the venture from the local gay community.

Rainbow Ridge Wines, founded in Nevada, is marketing its wine to the gay and lesbian market, estimated to have buying power in the billions of dollars.

The winery's first varietal wine, a 2001 California Alicante Bouschet, is labeled with a rainbow-colored grape cluster. Rainbow colors are often used as an international sign of gay identity.

The company was formed in Southern Nevada last year when business and life-partners Tom Beatty and Dennis Costa decided the time was right to act on their dream of opening a winery.

Because of an oversupply of grapes for the wine market, the two men were able to work with Costa's cousin, who already owned a vineyard in Lodi, Calif., south of Sacramento, to produce and bottle the company's first red wine.

"It's been a year of hard work and here we are," Beatty said.

Costa's and Beatty's headquarters is in Palm Springs, Calif. Both men still have extended family in Las Vegas. Costa still works with his father, owner of Henderson's The Stone Factory, a supplier of granite and marble for floors and counters, as a consultant.

"Because of the demographics, Palm Springs was a natural progression," Costa said of the company's new headquarters. "It is a diverse community that we like."

Bob Bellis, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada, has tasted the wine and said he will buy it.

"One of the unique things about Rainbow Ridge Wines is that it is gay-owned and they market it in the gay community," he said. "A lot of the gay community tries to support gay-owned businesses."

The center is one of the organizations that Rainbow Ridge Wines has vowed to help, and has helped in the past, as the winery grows as a business.

"It was a new center, and we were residents of North Las Vegas," Beatty said of the winery's support of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center.

Richard Ruiz, a board member of the LAMBDA Business and Professional Association, said gay-owned businesses will continue to grow in Las Vegas and undoubtedly nationwide.

One reason gay-owned businesses may become more mainstream is because of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Texas' sodomy laws. That ruling has created a public debate in the media and government and has focused more attention on the nation's gay population.

Ruiz, who with his mother owns Magdalena's, an interior design firm and furniture showcase, said the gay community has been very supportive of his business, and said other gay-owned businesses should expect to see the same support.

"I think they'll drink it up," he said, referring to Rainbow Ridge Wines. "It's a combination of things, mostly pride. I would buy (Rainbow Ridge Wines) just because it's helping our community."

Beatty said while Rainbow Ridge Wines is reaching out to gay consumers, the label and ownership should not deter heterosexuals from buying the wine.

"The market is huge, it's amazing," Beatty said. "It's not about judging a lifestyle, it's the quality of the product."

Kevin Vogt, wine director at Delmonoco Steakhouse at the Venetian, said before he read about Rainbow Ridge Wines in national wine magazines, he had never heard of a gay-owned winery.

"There's nothing like that, that I'm aware of, as far as the wine-making end of it," said Vogt, who is in charge of a wine list for the restaurant that encompasses 1,400 wines.

Vogt said he doesn't look to fill a niche while choosing wines for the restaurant. He's only concerned about one thing -- if the wine is good.

"It's not like we carry kosher wines just for Jewish people," he said. "But if it's kosher and it's good, more power to it."

So far Rainbow Ridge's Alicante Bouschet has rated high with wine connoisseurs. It received a 91-point rating from Wine Enthusiasts and Wine & Spirits magazine rated the wine a 90. Wine is rated on a 1 to 100 scale. Wines rated 90 and above are considered exceptional.

Rainbow Ridge Wines plans to release a Chardonnay by the end of September, followed by a Merlot and Cabernet.

The wine is distributed in seven states: California, New York, Florida, Illinois, Georgia, Texas and Alabama. Distribution in Nevada and other states is in the works.

"We are making more connections today, as we speak," Costa said. "People do business with people. It's getting our foot in the door. Once it hits, people will know about it and that's the exciting thing."

Marketing to gay and lesbian Americans is becoming more mainstream. In 1994, just 19 national advertisers appeared in gay publications, according to consulting and research firm Market Segment Research.

As of 2001, 72 Fortune 500 brands were active in the gay consumer market, according to the Gay Press Report. Some of the companies advertising to gays and lesbians are American Express, Ford Motor Co., Pfizer, American Airlines and Miller Brewing Co. Some Las Vegas casinos also regularly advertise in national gay publications.

The buying power of the gay and lesbian market, an estimated 14 million people nationwide, is about $484 billion, according to Washington, D.C.-based firm Witeck-Combs Communications.

The gay population is an important segment of consumer spending, said Richard Lapidus, chair of the marketing department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas College of Business.

"They have a disproportionate amount of higher education, higher quality white collar jobs and income," he said. "There has been a lot of discussion about gay population in wine, automobiles and financial services."

But Bob Witeck, chief executive of Witeck-Combs Communications, said the gay population is not necessarily more affluent.

"Gay people cover the spectrum, of all racial backgrounds and status," he said. "The data actually shows that they may be less affluent, based on household size. But because of the smaller households, they have fewer children and a higher buying power."

Lee Plotkin, a local gay-rights activist and a commissioner on the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, said marketing a product toward gays and lesbians is like marketing to any minority segment -- it makes good business sense.

"While some figure one ad appeals to all, it is very important to do target marketing," he said. Plotkin, who is also a real estate agent, helped Beatty and Costa buy and sell their Las Vegas home.

Rainbow Ridge Wines plans a stock offering later this year and is advertising it as what may be the country's first openly gay-owned public company.