Dubonet, a wine-based aperitif in Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite tipple, is selling out fast as fans are using the beverage to pay tribute to the late monarch.
The blends of wine, sold at different stores in the UK and Australia, is known as one of two major parts of the Queen’s go-to cocktail. The second part of it is gin.
Over the weekend, sales for Dubonnet at Australia’s larger retailer went up by 465 per cent when compared to a typical seven-day week, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.
During an interview with the publication, Tim Caroll, the director of buying and merchandise at Endeavour Group, revealed that his beverage company was buying more of the liquor after Australian retailers Dan Murphy’s and BWS ran out of it.
“In less than half [a week] we sold almost double that of Christmas, clearly showing a significant uplift from what we normally sell, and that was people clearly googling and recognising what is the Queen’s favourite drink and making it themselves,” he said.
Although Carroll acknowledged that liquor was back in stores, Endeavour group is still expecting it to sell out during the mourning period for the Queen leading up to her funeral on 19 September.
“I know that we’ll have more requests this weekend and equally into next week over the course of her funeral,” he added.
The wine-based beverage’s popularity first skyrocketed in November 2021, when the Queen gave her stamp of approval by granting a Royal Warrant on it. Speaking to The Daily Mail at the time, Simon de Beauregard, owner of Pernod Ricard which produces the beverage, addressed how sales changed during Covid-19.
“The growth is partly due to lockdown, but we believe it is more to do with consumers looking for a lower-alcohol drink. It’s become fashionable with the young to use in Negroni cocktails,” he said.
Back in 2017, Darren McGrady, who was the queen’s personal chef for over a decade, first shared that gin and Dubonnet was the monarch’s favourite cocktail. In addition, he also said that she occasionally enjoyed a sweet, German wine during dinner and that she mainly had alcohol in “the evening”.
On 8 September, Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen had “died peacefully” at her estate in Balmoral, Scotland. On Wednesday (14 September), members of the royal family attended a service for the monarch at Westminster Hall. The funeral is set for next Monday, 19 September, which will be a bank holiday in the UK.
