What Do You Remember About Sly Fox Wine?

Sir,
I clearly remember the wine known as SLY FOX.( Circa 1965-1972) It came in one gallon green bottles and sold for 89 cents a gallon. It was known to fool even the most experienced drinkers. The first taste was terrible ~ but then subsequent sips and swallows as I can remember actually tasted good or so it seems. Culmination usually was passing out or so messed up one could hardly move or respond to any sort of stimulii. We use to say even the garbage men would not venture to drink this stuff. It was for hippies and young people. Also we use to have a custom that whenever a partial jug of SLY FOX was discovered on the ground it was appropriate to search the surrounding area in a minimun of 200 plus meter radius looking for victims. It was rumored that upon tossing the jug the "OLE SLY FOX" could be heard a laughing ~ ~ I am quite surprised that so little information is recorded for historic purposes and trust that this true account be added to the record for posterity.

Written by a bonifide consumer of the "FOX"
September 11 , 2006

SLY FOX-yes ,I remember(to a point)drinking it while in the Navy in Virginia Beach between 1967 & 70.I did not recall the green bottle & think it was available in quarts (or fifths)very cheap.The label had a cartoonish smiling(sly) fox & I think it called itself a "grape" wine. Terrible hangovers!

As a '60's barroom musician in Norfolk Virginia, the most solid block of bars in the world, I remember the cartoon purple and blue Sly Fox Wine label. I covered a Harmony Bass guitar with the labels. I remember that the wine was a little cheaper than Thunderbird and MD 20/20 and was used in several "wine cocktails" sold in sailor bars, as liquor by the drink was illegal.

Sly Fox! Yes, I remember it very well. As a teenager living on a military base during the early 60's. Fort Eustis, Virginia and we would put out nickles, dimes and quarters together and ask some soldier to buy it for us right outside the main gate. It was part of our rite of passage, becoming a man and all that. We thought it tasted great, but what did we know. I recall soaking a few of those labels off the bottles and putting them on my wall in my bedroom. As I understand, it's no longer in production... I now live in California, but when I went back to VA in the 80's, a liquor store worker told me that.

Oh ya...Hampton, Norfolk, Va Beach & Sly Fox. The best bang for the buck, it actually made your tounge purple. Another favorite amgonst us pop bottle deposit buyers was Boars Head Sweet Apple Wine. Does anyone remember the Boar???

Yep, I remember Sly Fox wine. I first got to know the Sly Fox in 1962 in Norfolk, VA as a young submariner that couldn't afford any thing better for a cheeeep drunk. The other cheap brands were Golden Spur, Three Bears, Old Padre And some other brand that had a roster on the label. They didn't taste very good but they made the bar girls look better. I went back to the Portsmouth, VA area in 1969. They were still selling most of the stuff but my taste buds had gotten a little more particular by then. I bought a bottle and had about 2 swallows of it and put it out for the trash men. Suddenly my garbage cans and covers began coming back to my back yard like they were supposed to do any way. Every 2 months I would leave a bottle of cheap wine on the top of the trash cans and everyone was happy.

Oh, I remember Sly Fox well. When I was in the Navy and stationed in Norfolk in '65-'66, it was a popular addition to a 6-pak of Falstaff beer. I tasted the stuff once, and to me, it tasted like prune juice. Some guys got awfully messed up on that stuff.

Interestingly, in the book, "The Last Detail", Sly Fox wine is mentioned. That reference didn't make it to the movie version, though.

I was in college in Richmond, Virginia when I first got introduced to Sly Fox. I could buy it for 99 cents for a gallon at Safeway. Definitely got you drunk for very little money. The worst thing about Sly Fox was the next day - gave one the worst farts a human being could emit and could clear a room in a matter of seconds

I graduated from VA Tech in 1971 and remember some students drinking it. It was available in quarts for a low price (less than a dollar, but I forget the exact amount). Two memories: I had a glass once - when you held it to the light you could see pieces of grape skins floating in it - and it was so bad that every time you took a sip you winced.

Also I remember from looking at the label that it was made in Petersburg, VA (I suspect cheap wine concentrate, water and grain alcohol - I think it was 20%).

Also one winter saturday night in 1969 or 1970 someone was sneaking a bottle into Pritchard Hall and dropped it in the lobby and it broke. It wasn't cleaned up until monday and it stunk up the entire lobby.