1 Wine Dude

Meet Playboy.com’s New Dot Com Wine Dude

Posted on by 1WineDude

Yep. Really.

I’m crazy excited to tell you that I will soon be authoring a freelance wine column on Playboy.com.

So now you have some legitimacy behind the “I’m just going there for the articles, honey!” excuse (you’re welcome!).

The folks behind Playboy.com reached out to me many moons ago, and the whole thing has been even many more moons in the making, so I’m thrilled to be able to get started – and humbled and honored by the opportunity to work with such an amazing brand. I don’t know how long this gig will last, and the column doesn’t have an official name yet (please shout out your ideas in the comments – I’ve got a feeling those will be very entertaining!), but we have some great ideas for content, which naturally will be exploring the more sensual sides of wine.

Now, I’ve never featured beautiful nude women on 1WineDude.com (though I’ve come close!), but I suppose you could say that there’s a bit of “spiritual alignment” in my writing style and the serious-but-accessible-and-slightly-irreverent take on the subject of wine that Playboy.com was looking for. To me, it’s a bit like Forbes.com bringing on Jeff Lefevre’s smart, analytical writing style, or how the populist, grounded voice of Vinography’s Alder Yarrow fits in so well with JancisRobinson.com. So you can add one more name to the list of home-grown wine bloggers being tapped by long-standing on-line brands.

There are a few things you probably should know about this Playboy.com gig…

1) This is a freelance gig, with freelance gig pay, and I’m not an employee of Playboy. But that’s okay by me, because Playboy.com reaches several million eyeballs per month; of course, most of those eyeballs aren’t visiting to get wine recommendations, but that kind of audience volume is substantial, even if most of them are going there more for boobs than booze (I don’t know where puts me on the list of U.S. wine peeps in terms of potential reach… presumably pretty high, but I’ll let the PR people run those numbers and tell us, since they’re supposed to be doing that kind of stuff anyway :-).

2) I don’t yet know when the content will start running (and in fact, I’ve yet to create all of the content; so trust me, you will know when I know).

3) I have not met Hef (yet!). And I have not partied at The Mansion with Robert Downey, Jr. (…yet! Hey, a guy can hope, right?).

4) We’re talking Playboy.com here, and NOT Playboy the printed mag. And NO, I cannot get you free subscriptions to Playboy in either form (so you can stop typing that e-mail to me right now); though some of you in the biz may now be able to claim the subscription as a business expense (again, you’re welcome)…

5) Finally, and most importantly, I want to say… THANK YOU to YOU.

Yes, you.

I’m humbled, honored, and thrilled to have you along this crazy journey with me, and the ride is more rewarding and more fun for having you involved! I fully appreciate that many of you have been getting sick of hearing me say “big things are coming” and then delaying the announcements – all the more reason why I should be thanking you.

I don’t know if this adventure is going to end in sustainable income pooling, luxury yachts and diamond cufflinks for me, but I can promise you it is going to be quite an adventure. So please share the news as you deem fit!

And I’m looking forward to seeing many of you over at Playboy.com in the near future (for the articles of course!).

Cheers!

106 thoughts on “Meet Playboy.com’s New Dot Com Wine Dude”

  1. Very cool. Mainstream media gig. You do good work and deserve the accolades and exposure. Keep on Sippin.
    "Sippin After Dark?"
    "Sex in a Bottle"

    Cheers!

  2. That's great! Congratulations to you. You have rapidly become one of my favorite wine bloggers and I will look forward to reading new content in Playboy.

  3. Oh snap! (bringing that back) This is awesome! Congrats, Joe… you've certainly put in the "sweat equity"- so to speak- to earn this. Hope it is extremely fruitful, but fruitful in the sense that there is a low yield-per-acre of high quality fruit. Or something like that. Honestly, I'm lost on my own metaphor. Eh, hope you get to drink Corton off some boobs or something :)

  6. Well done, Joe… it was only a matter of time because we know you've got the skillz. Wondering if I could get you to review one of our private labels in your new column: Sexy Wine Bomb (http://www.sexywinebomb.com/) ; ) < only half joking… I'll have my people call your people

    Too early to come up with some witty sexy column names, but if one pops in my head, will send it your way.

      1. There are many ways the Sex Bomb comes out, Joe, but that's not important now ; )

        the wine has been out since early 2010… we were just on KSRO (local Sonoma radio) last night… it's targeting the popular red-blend category, 2nd in growth recently behind only Moscato I believe… more mainstream obviously, not meant for us wine geeks per se… has a pretty rabid following

  8. Well done, Joe.

    Not only am I stoked for you, but I'm also happy that the wine word is spreading into media outlets that you might not expect.

    BTW, Kona Carmack from '96 is my all-time favorite Playmate.

    1. @reneewinerd- thanks! Yeah, will be fun to let loose on some of the sensual wine topics, even stuff that I thought twice about putting out there on 1WD (if you can believe that! :). Cheers!

  12. Straight up cool, Joe! All of your friends at Wine Biz Radio are thrilled for you (well, I'm putting words in Kaz and Christophe's mouths, but what's new there)!

    Start setting up a photo album for all the photos with the stars! Only a matter of time!

  13. Congrats. The mansion isn't everything it's cracked up to be, though it is certainly worth visiting once, just to cross it off the list, so to speak. My votes for column titles:

    Stuck in the Bottle
    A Perfect Vacuum
    Aphrodisia (or, Aphro-dude-sia)
    Fluids
    Happy Hour
    Drippings

    etc. etc.

  14. I keep thinking about Pinotage from Silkbush Mountain Vineyard, paired with a Ladies from South Africa theme. (Your editors are going to love what you bring to the party.)

  15. Congratulations! As a gay man, it has been a while since I've looked at the magazine online or otherwise, but way back there used to be useful information on food and drink in there. I still have old copies of Playboy's cookbook and bar guide, both of them useful and well-written. I'm glad to see they're taking an interest in wine, which wasn't something they did back in the old days (yet something else we can blame on Blue Nun!)

  17. How very exciting, Joe! Congratulations! I hope this brings you lots of wonderful new opportunities! And gee, I'll be able to say that I knew him back in the day!

  19. Congratulations, that’s one small step for blogs, one giant leap for Dude's kind (there seems to be an echo emanating from the intertubes today). I have always viewed Playboy as one of the "classier" magazines/sites of its kind, and with its long standing pedigree it is nice to see they are stepping up that class factor with an interest in vino and what you have to say about it. I sincerely hope this is the first of a long list of gigs from reputable brands who have their finger on the proverbial pulse of the newfangled wine industry.

    Ideas:

    "Devine Nectar"
    "Seduction in a bottle"
    "Ambrosia in a bottle"
    “Playboy’s Vinos Protrusion" (too much? Or perhaps too male?)
    "Liquid Love"

    Ideas for first article titles:

    "Before you go south on the best, you must first sample the best (vino, not other women) (or the rest?)"
    "Love for wine and the seductive divine"
    "Liquid sex, how wine may lead to the vinous truth" (don’t know what direction I would go with this one)

    1. Thanks, Tim – not sure I would go so far as to say that they need me, but I'm thrilled that the 1WD voice (turned up a notch or two) will fit in with what they have planned. Cheers!

  24. Congratulations, Joe. It's a great break for a really good, really hard working guy. Are they going to show pictures of the bottles topless?

    2. I should note that at a natural wines bar in Angers this week we saw an empty bottle (a magnum, of course! :) that had a stylized black and white photo of a topless woman wearing a coat… Does that one count as a topless bottle? :)

  28. Congratulations your Dudeship! Well deserved!! Question – do you know yet if your content will be behind the pay wall?

    As far as a name goes, the first name that popped into my head was "1HornyDude" but maybe that's not appropriate even if true…. However, "The Dude's Wine Grotto" seems to tie in well. Or perhaps "Wine, Disrobed".

    Whatever you do, have fun and try to remember all of us little people!

  29. Congrats Joe!! This is an incredible opportunity for a very deserving dude. If you ever happen to need a guest contributor or provocative ideas, I might be able to help ;)

    A few thoughts on names:

    Popping Corks
    1WinePlayer
    WinePlay

  30. Way to go, Dude! So happy to see your bold venture into full time wine writing so * ahem * amply? rewarded. Since you asked, Cision says that playboy.com gets 1.87 unique visitors per month and Compete says 2.46 million — the truth is probably somewhere in between. Not too shabby! As for column names…the mind boggles…then goes immediately to the gutter!

  31. Well I guess this is where I come over as the humo(u)rless Brit, the voice in the wilderness, the woman who isn't getting enough (let me reassure you right there…) but: are you serious? I am so surprised, and disappointed. I guess I don't know you very well (read: at all). Sorry I can't be more enthusiastic. I love to see people succeed, and as as a self-employed mother of two and breadwinner, I know how tempting it is to take a gig just for the money. So I reckon you've done just that. Your choice.

    1. Louise – the gig doesn't pay a ton, money is not the reason. I will be working with an iconic brand with huge reach, THAT is the reason. I can respect you saying you don't like it on grounds that you dislike the brand, but not that I'm doing it for money because it's patently not the case. Thank you for chiming in and for the comment – things won't change on 1WD all that much so I hope you'll come back to visit and contribute your thoughts here. Cheers!

  33. Congratulations! You’ve worked hard for this and I think Playboy made a great choice. My suggestion for the column title is “Dude After Dark.”

  34. Joe!

    The wait is finally over! You make all of us bloggers proud! You're proof that hard work can pay off! I think your style of writing is perfect for the Mag and I know all the readers are going to love you just like we do!

    Better than Sex
    Boobs and Booze…I really like this one:)~

    ChEErS!

    -Court

  37. I didn't read through all the comments so I apologize if something similar has already been mentioned, but what about "Protected (or Unprotected) Secs"

  38. I guess this is what happens when you start using edible underwear in your tasting notes – congrats! My vote goes to "wine, disrobed" as suggested above. Wishing you continued success!

  42. Let me be one of many to congratulate you Joe!! But if you want to meet Heff, you better do it soon!! Last time I was at the Mansion he was rather frail and having a hard time walking on his own.

  44. Congratulations; you might revisit their spread on "Girls of the Napa Valley."
    My column suggestion, "Call me a cab!"

  45. This is such a great accomplishment. Congratulations! How did you you start your blog and get to this point in your blogging career?

    1. Thanks, Denise – that's a topic for an entire educational series, I think :). Short answer is “hard work, making the best content I could, and perseverance.” :)

  46. How awesome is that, Joe? Congrats on the opportunity. I wonder if you'll get an invite to Heff's grotto? Or better yet, his wine cellar… ;)

  52. A family member sent this to me – had to share it! :)

    Your wine runs cold
    your blog's been sold
    your wine bottle's a centerfold

    To the tune of the J. Geils Band's song from Freeze Frame, of course ;-).

  53. AH – you made it past the "100 Comment" mark – good for you. I saw your post on FB and just wanted to help out. Congrats on the new gig! I said when 2012 started that BIG things were on the way and that it was going to be a "really good year" (kind of like a fine wine)! Good luck, Joe – and don't forget the little people!!!! :-)

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