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FOOD & DRINK
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | AUGUST 7, 2022
Food & Drink
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Sweet Dreams puts a new twist on wine, cocktails BY JORDAN ROGERS Progress Staff Writer
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weet Dreams Vineyard and founder Bill Gibbs have brought a cutting-edge product to the cannabis industry. As of early 2021, the company released a nonalcoholic, THC-infused red wine and margarita, dubbed “Cannabernet” and “Marijuarita,” respectively. Both products are sold to anyone over the age 21 at Herbal Wellness Centers, as well as a growing number of dispensaries around the Valley. The cost is in the low to high teens for the 187mL bottle of either Cannabernet or Marijuarita and in the low to high $30s for a 750mL bottle of Cannabernet, depending on the strength. As they are both essentially juices, both products must be refrigerated after opening. “The impetus for this is I’m older, and I love to drink alcohol, but it’s just getting harder and harder for me to do,” Gibbs said. “But I love the social experience of being around people. So that was kind of the impetus about why I did it, it was sel�ish on my part. I wanted to drink less alcohol, but I didn’t want to change my lifestyle at all.” These beverages also offer fast-acting effects similar to that of an alcoholbased beverage without the hangover. By using nano-emulsi�ication technology, which makes the THC water soluble, the effects are felt in as little as 15 minutes. Cannabernet has half the calories of traditional wine per serving, and the Marijaurita only has 45 calories, which is far fewer than the traditional version of a margarita. Gibbs said keeping his products healthy was at the top of his list for things to accomplish. No stranger to the marijuana indus-
When he decided to get back into it, he followed up on that response he received at that convention. “I thought there would be a million products out there by that time because at that time, nobody had done it,” he said. “I was surprised to see that there was virtually none.” “You know, we’re close to California. I thought I’d get some (nonalcoholic) wine and put THC in it. There you go; Sweet Dreams Vineyard founder Bill Gibbs has found a unique there’s the prodproduct that blends the effects of marijuana with the taste of uct.” What Gibbs red wine. hadn’t realized is try, Gibbs founded a dispensary called that non-alcoholUrban Greenhouse Dispensary in Phoe- ic wine is not exactly fruitful in the taste nix in 2012 and served as its CEO until department. he later sold the company to Harvest “It’s not just awful; it’s incredibly terHealth and Recreation. rible,” he said. “You would never want While he was with the company, Gibbs to have it by the glass. I don’t know exwas at a marijuana convention in 2016 actly what causes that, but without the when, for fun, he threw a cannabis label alcohol in there, it really is bad.’” on a bottle of wine. Gibbs hired a sommelier and pur“Just out of a lark, I took a bottle of chased “every kind of juice known to wine and put a cannabis label on it,” man.” The two of them, Gibbs said, Gibbs said. “I got calls from – and of that sat in his kitchen to try and �igure out convention attracts an international the juice combination that would best crowd – all over the world, from people mimic the taste of a glass of red wine. going, ‘We’re going to get the wine in After �inding the correct combination, my location.’ That was kind of an amaz- Gibbs wasn’t exactly done with the beta ing response. I also literally got prob- stage. He said the “edible experience” ably around 100 emails from people.” is something he did not want his canAfter selling that dispensary in 2019, nabis-infused beverages to mimic, as Gibbs took a break from the industry. edibles can be unpredictable and take a
long time to take effect. “When I was able to do some research, I realized that this was an issue that the pharmaceutical companies had solved a long time ago to be able to have the active ingredients enter the bloodstream at a much quicker rate,” Gibbs said. “Then, I just went about trying to �igure out how to do that.” Gibbs wanted his product to have the quicker response time that alcohol has – roughly 15 minutes. “With cannabis, it’s been illegal for so long, so there’s no manual,” Gibbs said. “Nobody writes any of this stuff down; it’s not like almost any other industry. If you go into any other industry, there’s long legions of people that have done stuff before.” After learning about nano-emulsifying technology, he was able to �igure out how to correctly utilize it, and he had his �inished product. In this case, nanoemulsi�ication converted the THC into something that would allow it to enter the bloodstream faster. Gibbs said the �lavor the of the juices serve as a blocker to the bitter taste cannabis brings. Gibbs, however, said he doesn’t want people to expect a perfect �lavor pro�ile to a classic Cabernet. “You’re never going to drink that and go, ‘That’s the best Cabernet I’ve ever had,’” he said. “You’re going to say, ‘It’s wine like, and it tastes good.’” “The big reason about why I wanted the alcohol experience, is that it includes the social aspect of it,” he said. “You could bring a bottle of this to a party where you might not be able to bring a joint. This encourages the social aspect, which for alcohol, for me, I think is one of the most important and endearing properties of it.” Information: sweetdreamsvineyard.com
