Sex and entertainment are the keys to selling a wine magazine and its website to our generation.

Wine X Magazine is a high-energy, cutting edge, hip Gen X lifestyle magazine and website that features understandable information about wine, beverages and food.

The goal of Wine X is to inform, entertain and enlighten the fastest-growing market of wine consumers, 21 to 35 year olds, while providing a unique, contemporary approach for the more traditional wine aficionado. Wine X offers a comfortable and inviting forum that discusses a wide range of topical information; in short, it lives up to its promise of providing “wine, food and an intelligent slice of vice.”

Wine X approaches wine from an angle very different from the industry norm. In the typical wine or food magazine, expect to find commentary and critique by stuffy old winos about wine made by stuffy old winos. The topics discussed are not of interest to the young adult and their ?secretly coded? wine and food language is hard to understand.

In stark contrast to industry norms, the material covered in Wine X is about the young adult lifestyle, with wine, beer and food grafted onto it. Regular features include stories on music, fashion, videos, books, food and Gen X culture.

Popular columns include wine commentary by “The Wine Bitch,” food facts and recipes by Australia?s Surreal Chef and masculine commentary by the “Electric Jester.” Featured interviews in Wine X have included discussions with Dr. Ruth and musicians and singers Steven Page of the Violent Femmes, Abra Moore, Tori Amos and Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls.

When readingWine X you will feel cozy and right at home, and then ? wham! Out of nowhere you?ll find yourself reading about wine. Who would have thought?

When Wine X rates wines, confusing number scoring that offers little explanation or reasoning is thrown to the wind. Wine X scores wine on a simple X, XX or XXX rating scale; the higher the “X” rating, the better the wine.

Commentary on each rated wine is written in approachable and easy-to-understand language. For example, expect to find a wine described as having “a fruit bomb quality that explodes on your palate like Smucker?s boysenberry jam and a finish that is smoother than Brad Pitt in red leather pants.” In regards to aging: “drink it now, drink it later, just drink it!”

Wine X is not always received well by the wine industry, which delights the magazine?s honchos. Daryl Roberts, CEO and Publisher of Wine X, truly believes and revels in the fact that if people in the wine business did like his magazine, he would be completely missing his target audience. Wine X is the only magazine that is written for young adults, not for old wine curmudgeons that look down their noses at us. Thank you, Daryl.

If you prefer a digital version with online-exclusive updates and information on the fly check out www.winexwired.com for a digital wine fix. The Web site hosts most of the copy covered in the magazine, event updates and “Weekly Wine Blasts” of information.

Print copies are available in Sacramento at Beyond Napa Wine Market or by subscription; (see the Web site or print inserts for subscription info).

Wine X is an important player in the wine publishing industry, because it actively brings wine to new consumers in an untapped, uninformed and often uninterested market. Let?s face it: most wine in the United States is consumed by Baby Boomers; most of my friends prefer a micro-brew or a cosmopolitan. If Wine X brings wine to masses of young adults and Gen-Xers, it?s the future bible of the wine biz in my book.