Genius comes from out of the blue and when you are least expecting it.
Finding new inventive and tasty choices in alcoholic drinks is an ever-changing market. Let's face it, some people are set in their ways, if they drink a Bud Light (BUD), they only ever want a Bud Light. This drink claims to have a superior drinkability.
Drinkability? What is that supposed to mean? You can enjoy it? It's tasty? It goes down easy? That may be an acquired taste for some, but there is an entire market of people who want to taste something good, without having to acquire a taste for it.
Seltzers Took Over the Market
Seltzers aren’t a new concept, but the recent craze shows how versatile it can be. Seltzers have been around for well over a century, though they didn’t start out as a popular drink, but as medicine. Innovation brings about new ideas and new concepts on old ideas. Seltzer is one of them that has been an old idea, and as it is mostly just water. So, what should do you with water, but make water into wine of course, or a flavored spiked seltzer that’s close enough.
Hard seltzers really took over the market in 2018. Interestingly enough, that very next year showed the first decline in consumer wine consumption in nearly 25 years. According to Bloomberg, hard seltzers brands like White Claw, a Mark Anthony Group brand, and Truly, from Boston Beer (SAM), both came on strong, quadrupling their sales. The two brands together had a majority of the market, roughly 85% in 2019.
The craze could stem from the convenience of drinking from a can instead of a bottle or glass, or it could be the light refreshing taste with minimal calories compared to full bodied wines and beers. Nonetheless, the hard seltzers were a hit. The seltzer craze may be over, and the markets stocked with options, so businesses are looking on to the next big thing.
The Next Big Mixology
If you have ever found yourself mixing soda and wine, maybe just because you didn’t want to hold two cups anymore, this may come as a surprise to you. Woodbridge by Constellation Brands (STZ) is merging its long history of making wine and is adding the soda concept, which is something most people might think is a little but crazy. After seeing seltzers take off, Constellation Brands wants to dig deeper and see what different tastes will bring in more customers.
Woodbridge is launching a wine soda, the first. When anyone is considering trying to start drinking wine, the best introductory wine is always a white. White wines tend to be sweeter with less tart. More seasoned wine drinkers will enjoy the deep reds, but that’s not what Woodbridge is working toward. They want to help bring over soda drinkers that want to try wine but love their soda.
This new concoction may be a less intimidating option when wanting to get into wines. Soda loving consumers will be able to join a light wine with a soda twist to it. Consumers don’t have to worry about opening an entire bottle of wine and having it possibly go bad before it is finished. The convenient serving size cans may be the answer.
Mixologist have been mixing wine and soda, and beer and soda to make new and inventive drinks, but now the combination will be available in stores nationwide that carry Woodbridge. The wine soda will be available in several flavors' lemon lime, grapefruit, and orange. The cans will have 7% ABV white wine with a classic soda flavor.
