The letters STD stand for sexually-transmitted disease. Unsurprisingly, neither they nor the subject often form part of the discussion at most polite social gatherings. RTD, by contrast, refers to Ready-To-Drink, but this, too, rarely gets mentioned when wine professionals get together. And, when it does, it is usually in the context of cans of malt- or spirit-based beverages that have little, if anything, to do with wine.
The conversation is far more likely to involve non-alcoholic ‘wine’, sales of which have been booming while those of conventional wine have been flat or falling.
The latest NielsenIQ on-trade trends report, however, suggests that wine-based RTDs or ‘wine cocktails’ deserve a lot more attention than they have received.
In the US, the authors claim, off-premise sales of (still) table wine amount to $17.6bn. The equivalent figures for wine-based RTDs and ‘Flavoured Beverage Wine’ are $0.9bn and $0.7bn respectively. In other words, these two related categories are worth nearly 10% as much as the stuff everybody generally talks about. Or, viewed from another angle, 60% as much as the $2.7bn US retail market for sparkling wine.
While brands like Barefoot and Sutter Home offer RTD options, the most famous wine-based RTD brand – though rarely described as such – is probably Stella Rosa. These sweet, fruit-flavoured, low-alcohol Italian wines from Riboli Estates that, in 2023, sold around 4m cases, more than Château Ste Michelle, Kendall Jackson or Ménage à Trois. That year, a new line, flavoured with fruit and chilli was the fastest growing entrant to the wine sector.
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