Night Train Express

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Night Train Express (usually abbreviated to Night Train) is the brand name of an inexpensive fortified wine sold in the United States. The wine typically contains 17.5% abv.

The wine is manufactured by the E & J Gallo Winery, and is one of the products, along with Thunderbird, which formed a large part of the company's sales in the company's early days. Although not listed on their website, the winery will acknowledge its existence and send a list of liquor stores selling the wine through email.

Night Train Express has been a very controversial brand among civic leaders in major cities as it is felt that Night Train, as well as other inexpensive high liquor content drinks, contribute to vagrancy and public drunkenness of homeless people. Cities like San Francisco and Seattle have banned the sale of Night Train in downtown and skid row areas. ^[1]

[edit] Popular Culture

• In The Blues Brothers film, as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues are getting out of the Bluesmobile before their gig at the Palace Hotel Ballroom, Jake moans "My head hurts. That Night Train is a mean wine..."
• Hard rock band Guns N' Roses wrote a song, Nightrain, about the wine. E & J Gallo Winery contacted the band after the song's release to inform them that they should have paid for the right to use the Night Train brand name. It is believed the song title was contracted to Nightrain in an attempt to get around this. The company later decided they would accept the 300% increase in sales triggered by the song as an alternative payment.
• Songs by indie rock bands Heatmiser and Jawbreaker contain passing references to the wine.
• The Von Bondies recorded a song named after the wine.

[edit] See also

• Bum wine

[edit] References and external links

1. ^ Murakami, Kery. "Alcoholics finding way around ban", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 7, 1998. Retrieved on 2006-11-14.

• E & J Gallo Winery's website
• Bumwine.com review
• Night Train on Ghettowine.com