I was first introduced to wine gums in 2004 when me and the missus took our ill-fated Italy trip. (Note to readers: if you or your wife is pregnant, and doesn’t like the smell of moped exhaust or the fact that she can’t get a Denny’s “Grand Slam” breakfast, you probably shouldn’t go to Italy during that time.)
It wasn’t all bad though: I had a $12 gelato (Hi! I’m a tourist!), the best pork cutlet of my life, and saw some great sights. More importantly though, I had to stop over at Heathrow airport, or as I like to call it, candyworld®. It was there that I picked up a bag of Maynard’s Wine Gums and fell in love.
Recently, I stumbled on to these at Cost Plus World Market, or as I like to call it, candyworld2®. They’re made by a company called Taveners:
I love how it says “proper sweets” on the bag, it reminds me of MC Hammer: “Proper!”. Anyhow, I wasn’t really expecting these to be all that great. But a local source of wine gums was a good thing, so I picked up a bag. I was blown away. Not too soft, but not as hard as the Maynard’s Wine Gums, the flavors on these were just spot on. Lemon, lime, strawberry and black currant are there, but there’s also orange and another flavor, but I’m not sure exactly what that one is. No matter. These are addictive, and they rock.
If you’ve never had wine gums, they don’t tast like wine, nor do they have any alcohol in them.
Sorry, drunks!
However, they do have a quality that clearly sets them apart from other gummies. I’m not sure if there’s some sort of subtle flavoring added, or what the deal is, but they’re dope. They’re like gummies for adults-a sort of refined taste that is extremely tasty, but a little more complex than your garden variety ghetto gummie.
The great thing about these, at least for Bay Area folks, is that they’re available at Cost Plus. They’ve been there for months and are still there, so I think we can count on them being at least a semi-permanent addition.
If you’ve never tied wine gums, you owe it to yourself to pick up a bag. If you like wine gums, then you need to try this brand. If you don’t like wine gums, then…why are you still reading this? Seriously, we don’t need you here.
Go away.
Now that killjoy is gone, it’s up to the rest of you to enjoy. Let me know what you think…
Super off-putting for you to use the slur “drunks”. Alcohol abuse/misuse is not something to be joked about or referenced in a condescending manner. You’d be surprised by the percentage of outwardly presenting ‘functional alcoholics’ that fall into the alcohol use disorder category. At bare minimum, genetic females who drink more than 1 standard drink in a single day or more than 5 standard drinks over the course of 7 days are, in fact, technically abusing alcohol. So maybe next time, hold your tongue and phrase the advertisement as “miss the taste of wine? Eat our non-alcoholic gummies!”
But this isn’t an advertisement. It’s a blog with candy reviews. He was trying to be funny. Humor of course is subjective, will work for some and not others. Worked for me, perhaps not for you.
Username really checks out on this one!
*I’m just being salty, but good LORD you come off ridiculously. Calm down. This isn’t a news outlet.
As a recovering alcoholic myself (about 6 years sober), I really think you’re over-reacting.
I can understand if you’re newly sober and it rubs you the wrong way. Early in the process of recovery, little things can be really triggering because they’re amplified by your own struggle with addiction. I did the same thing in my first few years of sobriety. As time goes on, and you start getting years of sobriety under your belt, you’ll see these things aren’t as big of a deal. Personally, I frequently refer to the old me, pre-sobriety, as a “f__ng drunk”.
If it is that you’re going through the early stages of recovery, all my best wishes. It’s tough, but it’s worth it
I love these gummies, I especially love that they are made with all natural ingredients, not even any artificial colorings!
If you have a Publix supermarket nearby you can get these in the international aisle (with the british stuff) for $2.87 a bag (5.8oz)
Awesome right? They are really good.
I live in Russia and today I found wine gums in shop of Finnish products and it is delicious! I never thought that Haribo and things like that can be so tasty (except for moomin candies, but I can’t find them in Russia for a few years). I just wanted to share my happiness.
Walmart “Our Finest” wine gums are the same product in case you’re in Canada and can’t get the Traveners brand 🙂
Oh and the flavours listed on the box are:
Blackcurrant, Lemon, Lime, Orange, Pear, and Raspberry
Does anyone know if Taveners and Waterbridge wine gums are made by the same people?
Tavener’s wine gums are alright in bringing back the memory of my first addictive authentic wine gum experience in 1980, through the sweet smell that rises from the bag when I open them. But the flavors are not the same. I wish I could find a company that makes the original wine gums flavored with a profile that likens the different varietals of wines, instead of just another gummy fruit candy making company. The dark blackberry colored wine gums are my favorite flavor, as they are the only selection which has an essence in the taste that compares to the one of original wine flavored candies I remember, and I find that the the dark ones are the most scarce and least produced per bag. I find that I eat the one to three black berry colored wine guns first and give the rest of the lemon, lime, orange, and cherry fruit gummy candies away or they sometime make it to the trash. There’s nothing unique about tropical fruit flavored gummy candies. The Harribo company is one of many that has cornered that market globally. I appreciated Tavener’s efforts in keeping the idea alive, however they are selling gummy tropical fruit flavored candies, not wine flavored gummy candy(wine gums). There’s a big difference.
Delicious lolly! Tried this from Publix today and I think the difference is the flavors taste like real fruit. For instance in the States if you have grape Kool-Aid you know what you’re getting. It tastes nothing like a grape or grape juice though. I think all those artificial flavors we’re accustomed to have ruined us for true natural ones (and frankly I think Starbucks ruined the American coffee palette, but I digress…) These sweet treats remind me of those found all over Australia (haven’t spent any time in Europe) and are very delicious. Currant is a flavor you won’t find in any mainstream American product and that’s a shame. I highly recommend folks pick up a bag of these for fun. They’re great.
Banana. The last flavor is banana.
WINE GUMS rule and yeah, Taveners are really good. So are Victoria. Maynard’s aren’t worth the money. Way too hard.
Wine gums. Wine gums. Wine gums. I look for them wherever there is candy. They rock. And like those that decided to imbibe on Maynard the younger’s, I appreciate the fuck out of them. I can’t wait to get drunk on these.
And would someone give Cost Plus some sort of candy prize. My wife used to work there – oh how I miss those days.
I need to go to Cost Plus more. Or perhaps they need to come to us more, we sure as hell mention them enough.
These look good though.
And why do they call them wine gums? Well I went to Yahoo answers…ahem…and found this:
“There are two apocryphal stories told: One is that after hearing a fiery temperance sermon, Maynard the younger (wine gum maker in the UK) decided to market his candies as an aid to cutting down one’s alcohol consumption. Therefore, he called them “wine gums”, and labeled them with wine names. The other story is simpler and probably closer to the truth. Maynard the younger wished to market his candies as being so good that they should be appreciated like a fine wine. Therefore he called them “wine gums” and labeled them with wine names.”