Tattoo Artist and Wine Importer Team Up to Honor Mother with Chilean Blend

When their mother died from breast cancer in 2000, brothers Alex and Erik Bartholomaus decided to combine their talents -- wine and tattoos -- to pay tribute to her life and help prevent the illness that killed her. The result is Big Tattoo Red, a proprietary blend produced in Chile, Liliana Bartholomaus' native country.

Responsibility for creating the blend was assumed by Alex, president and CEO of Billington Imports in Springfield, Va., a company founded by his father in 1985 to import wines from South America. Erik, a tattoo artist, created the label, which bears a black and red fleur-de-lis -- their mother's favorite symbol, which is also emblazoned across his chest, hence the "Big Tattoo" moniker.

The brothers formed 2 Brothers Winery and released the first 2,500 cases of Big Tattoo Red Colchagua 2001 (85 points, $10) in April 2002. For each case sold, they donated $6 to the American Breast Cancer Research Fund and the National Capital Area Hospice in Arlington, Va., where their mother had received care. They quickly sold out and produced another 11,000 cases of the blend. By summer 2003, they had sold a total of 13,835 cases and raised $83,010 for charity.

The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (50 percent), Syrah (40 percent) and Merlot (10 percent) from Chile's Colchagua Valley. It was produced at Bodegas La Rosal winery in Casablanca.

Spurred by their success, the Bartholomaus brothers upped production to 40,000 cases for the 2002 Big Tattoo Red (86, $9), which was released in June 2003. So far, they've sold more than 22,000 cases and they expect to raise $240,000 by June 2004. More revenue means they have been able to reach more charities. "Some customers asked us to donate to their local charities, and a lot of distributors have joined us and matched our donations," Alex said.

The brothers also have plans for a Big Tattoo White, to be produced in Germany, but the strong 2003 vintage might delay the project. "I think that Riesling is a grape that's written off quickly because a lot of people don't do much to promote it," Alex said. "I'd love to be able to use Big Tattoo White as a vehicle to get people to try Riesling. But considering the 2003 vintage was extremely good, almost everything was spätlese quality and up, so there's not a lot of inexpensive wine to combine for a reasonably priced blend."

While the first two Big Tattoo Red bottlings were blended from purchased wines, for the 2003 vintage, the 2 Brothers winery exerted more control over the grapegrowing, getting half of the production from growers with whom they have contracted. "Our goal is to eventually produce 200,000 cases of the red, which would result in over $1 million to charity," Alex said. "But the project is really all about our mom, and my brother and I wouldn't be very happy if we sacrificed quality."