What was Cracklin' Rosie in Neil Diamond's hit song "Cracklin' Rosie"?

Cracklin' Rosie was a bottle of wine. The song "Cracklin' Rosie" was Neil Diamond's first No. 1 hit in America on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. It reached the top the week of Oct. 10, 1970 and stayed for just that one week. It was also his breakthrough single in England, reaching No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart.

Diamond said he got the idea for the song from a folk story of an Indian tribe in Northern Canada which had more men than women. He told "Rolling Stone Magazine": "On Saturday nights when they go out, the guys all get their girl; the guys without girls get a bottle of Cracklin' Rosie, that's their girl for the weekend."

There are hints in the lyrics as to what Cracklin' Rosie is throughout the song, including, "Cracklin' Rosie, you're a store-bought woman, but you make me sing like a guitar hummin'."

Many Diamond fans have traditionally believed the crackling wine he was referring to was "Sparkling Mateus Rose", a medium quality, low priced artificially carbonated wine favored by college students on the West Coast of the U.S. during the late 1960s and early 1970s. It also could have been "Richards Wild Irish Rose", an alcoholic beverage produced by Centerra Wine Company, which is part of the Constellation Brands organization.