Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Dr. Ruth To Sell Sexy Low-Alcohol Wine

It turns out that Dr. Ruth Westheimer wasn’t kidding when she told me that she was coming out with her very own line of wines.

When I interviewed her at an event at the Jewish Theological Seminary last March, she was talking a mile a minute about latest projects. She mentioned the wine somewhere in between plans for her 84th birthday party at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, on June 5 (she made sure to note that her actual birthday is June 4), and an upcoming play about her life called “Dr. Ruth: All The Way.” Sadly, I didn’t take many notes on what she was saying, other than that it would be California wine. It seems I should have taken her viticulture aspirations more seriously.

Westheimer, a person known for doing things her own way, isn’t coming out with just any wine. The main reason she agreed to become a first-time vintner was that she would be able to sell a wine with considerably less alcohol than usual. While regular wine normally has 13 percent alcohol content, Dr. Ruth’s will have only 6 percent.

It’s not hard to guess what this is all about. Given that this is Dr. Ruth, what we’re talking about here is sex. “My idea is that just the right amount [of alcohol] will awaken your senses and arouse you,” she told the New York Post. “I’m always saying couples should drink to relax, but not too much. If [the woman] drinks too much, she falls asleep and if [the man] drinks too much, he can’t perform.” She emphasized that this romantic problem plagues heterosexual and homosexual couples equally.

Just be warned that you’ll have to (sparingly) use other wine to help you get in the mood until July. That’s when Dr. Ruth’s Vin D’Amour will hit the shelves of supermarkets, bodegas and corner delis. It won’t be hard to spot the bottles — they’ll have a big picture of a smiling Dr. Ruth on the label.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version