By Marcy Magiera
This new wine really carries a kick. Two Horns red, a 2012 blend of California-grown Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Cabernet, is the official wine of Professional Bull Riders (PBR), the world’s premier bull riding organization. Produced by Gold River, Calif.-based CORDELINA Wine Company and and distributed across the Midwest, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions through retailers including Hy-Vee, Giant Eagle, Harris Teeter and Jumbo Jim’s, the wine is just a taste of the new licensing activity being unloosed by PBR.
Riding a wave of interest in all things western that has boosted both its TV ratings (up 33% this season on CBS) and its local attendance (up 5% for the first dozen 2016 PBR Built Ford Tough Series events of the season), PBR is also expanding its fragrance and apparel lines. It has partnered with event retail and merchandising company MainGate to manage its event, ecommerce and wholesale retail business. MainGate—which provides similar services to the likes of the NCAA, Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, U.S. Bowling Conference, Big Ten Football, NHRA and PGA America—will oversee PBR’s push into expanded apparel lines and overhaul the PBR online store for a relaunch in early fall.
In the meantime, PBR will launch Wild Ride Midnight Noir for women, its fifth scent from Tru Fragrance. Tru also markets PBR’s 8 Seconds, Fearless, and Black and Blue for men, and Wild Ride for women, online and through about 1,500 retail locations with a concentration in western stores like Boot Barn and farm and ranch retailers.
If the smell of PBR (fragrances, not riding rings) appeals to fans, so might the taste. Fans can get a sniff and buy a sip at one of PBR’s bull rider bottle signings happening in local markets. Rider Ryan Dirteater last month signed bottles of Two Horns at at Hy-Vee in Urbandale, Iowa, and other signings are upcoming in Nashville, Tenn.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Boise, Idaho.