Wine press: Top 10 wine commercials ever made

(MassLive) - Blame television.

Or more to the point, blame television ads.

In commercial after commercial, for years and years, television ads created an elitist aura around wine that simply won't go away. You need to live in a castle or wear a cravat to drink wine. You need to enunciate your words slowly and listen to Beethoven. You need to drive a Rolls Royce or have long, flowing blond hair that moves in slow motion.

Sound far fetched? That's only the tip of the iceberg. Watch a few wine commercials and you'll start to notice a striking similarity from one bland ad to the next, especially during the '70s and '80s. Many of these ads were for mass produced California wines that had about as much originality as a Lady Gaga song. (I'm sorry, but she's basically Madonna without a sense of humor.)

California wines have come a long way since then. And so have wine commercials. Watch some recent ones and you'll find ads as distinct and unique as any Pinot Noir or Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa or Sonoma. You'll also find some downright strange and bizarre ads from there and abroad. (And let me add that I could have put some even crazier ads on this list just from SLO Down Wines in Napa, California, but I like my job and realize that daily newspapers are still held to a higher standard than some alternative publications.)

So here they are, the top 10 wine commercials ever made. This highly subjective list starts with No.10 and works its way up to the No. 1 spot.