Elizabeth Banks & Archer Roose: A New Pinot Noir And Doubling Growth

Forbes

25-04-2025

Archer Roose Wines exceeded 100,000 nine-liter cases in 2024, a record for the brand. The canned ... More wine brand's co-founder and CEO Marian Leitner-Waldman (left) stands beside actress Elizabeth Banks, who co-owns Archer Roose and serves as chief creative officer.
Archer Roose Wines, co-owned by actress Elizabeth Banks, says the canned wine brand is coming off a record year in 2024. What's next is a new canned pinot noir, the company's first new red varietal in five years.
Co-founder and CEO Marian Leitner-Waldman tells me during a virtual interview that sales volume for Archer Roose Wines exceeded 100,000 nine-liter cases in 2024, a record for the brand, and is currently hitting a 125,000 annualized case volume on a trailing 12-month average. This growth puts the brand in the top 5% of U.S. wineries by case volume, according to Leitner-Waldman.
'We're really focused on where consumers are spending their dollars and their time,' says Leitner-Waldman, adding she expects that Archer Roose is 'going to double in size this year.'
Archer Roose Wines has scored key distribution wins with accounts ranging from 23 ski resorts owned by Vail Resorts, national distribution with casual dining and entertainment venue Dave & Buster's, and theater operator Regal Cinemas. 'We are in people's active lives," says Banks.
Distribution with Regal is indicative of Leitner-Waldman's theory that wine drinkers are eschewing the more stodgy and outdated way that they were presented wines—the white tablecloth fine dining experience—and instead seeking to sip on wine during more active occasions. During conversations with Regal, Leitner-Waldman says the theater chain told her that they anticipated only selling about 800 cases of canned wine annually. But Archer Roose sold 2,400 cases within the first six months of the account win.
'Let's make sure we're along for the ride and we're showing up wherever they are,' says Leitner-Waldman of the brand's efforts to connect with consumers in more settings beyond fine dining.
In recent years, the wine industry has struggled to connect with consumers, who have gravitated to drinking liquor, non-alcoholic beverage options, and even cannabis. Wine sales in the U.S. tumbled 6% last year from 2023, according to data from industry data group SipSource.
Experts say that the industry has found it particularly difficult to connect with millennials and Gen Z, who are far less likely to say they prefer wine over other alcohol options over drinkers over the age of 60. U.S. wine volume has slipped for four consecutive years and has only reported one year of growth over 1% since 2016—in 2020, when all alcohol sales soared due to the pandemic, according to an annual wine report published by Silicon Valley Bank.
Archer Roose proclaims that it stands out with wines that contain no added sugar and are made from sustainably grown grapes, both trends that align with consumer preferences. By selling wines in the canned format, it can be more accessible to drinkers looking for grab-and-go options when outdoor at a park or the beach, and also far more recyclable and lighter to ship than bottles. 'Very few wine drinkers have started drinking wine in a can,' says Banks in an interview with Leitner-Waldman. 'We feel like there's a huge growth opportunity in this space for us.'
Archer Roose Wines has launched its first new red varietal in five years, a piinot noir.
Banks joined the brand in 2021 as co-owner and chief creative officer and has played a critical role in the brand's voice and advertising identity. 'She's funny and sophisticated, but the way she's talking about our wines to our consumers is so different,' says Leitner-Waldman.
Broadly, the wine industry spends less on ads versus their share of the total alcohol market and when producers do put dollars toward traditional advertising, those spots tend to feature older spokespeople walking slowly through a vineyard or wine cellars that evoke out-of-touch wealth.
'That's just not reality,' says Banks. 'We don't take it too seriously. This isn't snotty, we are not intimidating, but we also want to recognize that our wine is delicious.'
Because Archer Roose requires the wines it sources have no added sugars or sulfites and prioritizes female partners and sustainable production, 'it limits who we are going to end up talking to,' says Banks.
The brand cast a wide net—speaking to dozens of wineries across California, the Pacific Northwest, France, and other regions—before selecting Australian winemaker Courteney Wills to source Archer Roose's new pinot noir.
Sold for $19 for a four-pack, the pinot noir is described as featuring notes of red berries, a hint of clove and balanced acidity.
'Not every wine deserves to be in a can, some wines are meant to be bottle aged,' explains Leitner-Waldman. 'But pinot noir, when done right, can be drunk young and fresh.'