There’s a name on everyone’s wine-soaked lips:
Josh. Short for Josh Cellars.
The wine company.
But given that Josh Cellars was founded in 1978, why is everyone talking it about it now?
Well, it all started on Jan. 6, when X user Rashad Eason (@OptimusGrind__) posted a photo of a recently purchased bottle of Josh Cellars Merlot, writing, “I’m not gonna keep telling y’all to grow up and leave that Stella & Barefoot alone.”
Although most of the discussion under Eason’s post debated the merits of Josh and other affordable wines like Stella Rosa and Barefoot Wines, some people said they were unfamiliar with the Josh brand.
U.S. & World
“i didn’t wanna have to ask. wtf is josh wine,” asked one person, to whom Josh Cellars replied, “me.”
Eason’s post went viral, garnering more than 20 million views, and inspired a barrel full of memes from people tickled by a wine with the 60th most popular baby name in 2022.
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“It’s Josh o’clock somewhere,” wrote one user, including an image of a Josh bottle and wine glass in the sand as the sun rises, presumably after a night of heavy Josh-drinking.
“‘A wine but we call it Josh,’” posted another person, using a still of Don Draper pitching a product from “Mad Men.”
“Your Josh sir,” reads another meme of a butler penguin serving up a bottle of Josh.
Many of the memes reference popular music, like Kendrick Lamar’s “Swimming Pools (Drank)” and Kesha’s “TiK ToK.”
“drake and josh 👌,” posted one user, referencing the early-aughts Nickelodeon show with an image of a glass of red wine in front of a laptop playing Drake’s music.
Another meme shows a conversation between a father and son in a car, revealing the reason the son’s name is Josh.
One X user discovered that Josh’s website recommends making hot chocolate with wine in it, coining the term “Hot Joshlate.”
“josh wine on a friday night, pair of jeans that fit just right,” posted another, riffing on Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried,” with an image of a horse guzzling Josh next to an image of a horse wearing jeans.
That last meme is a favorite of Dan Kleinman, chief brand officer of Josh Cellars, and he and the rest of the company have been “captivated” by the “hilarious creativity” and “wittiness” of these posts.
“As the #1 and fastest growing premium wine brand in America for the past few years, we were a bit surprised that Josh Cellars is just being discovered by some, but we’re always excited to have more people join the party,” Kleinman shares in a statement with TODAY.com. “Thank you to our loyal fans for showing all of their love for the brand. Let the memes flow!”
But Kleinman and Josh Cellars have one person to thank for the free publicity: Eason, the X user who started the meme movement by educating people about affordable wine.
“I love wine and I normally post what wine I’m drinking or trying because I’m a cook and I like to pair wines with my food; but I’m normally seeing people drink the basics,” Eason tells TODAY.com. “I’m like there’s more wines out there that are quality and a decent price point that doesn’t taste like pure juice.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
