Latest news with #ArcherRooseWines
Forbes
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Why Are People Adding Jalapeños To Their Sauvignon Blanc?
getty Cinco de Mayo is around the corner and this year, instead of talking about spicy margaritas, social media is abuzz with spicy wine. In the last week, videos showcasing sliced jalapeño in Sauvignon Blanc have amassed over 14 million views on TikTok. 'Add Jalapeños to your white wine. I prefer frozen jalapeños and Sav B,' writes one creator who has over 616,000 views on her video of her adding three slices of green jalapeños to a wine glass. Other users tout the unexpected combination as 'divine' and their 'fav new summer drink.' 'TikTok loves drama, and what's more dramatic than spiking your wine with a chili pepper?' shares Daniel Beedle, sommelier at Birch & Bloom in Charlottesville, Virginia. However, it also speaks to a larger shift within the industry. 'Consumers are flavor-curious, less bound by rules, and fully willing to blur the lines between cocktail and wine culture,' adds Beedle. It's no secret that the casual drinker is getting more comfortable remixing classic beverages: the alcoholic version of a Shirley Temple (Dirty Shirley) peaked in the summer of 2022, wine slushies took over in 2023 and last summer it was all about open can cocktails, essentially adding booze to your favorite non-alcoholic beverage in a tin. 'The jalapeño hack is a logical next step,' says Beedle, explaining that the trend is one of those rare phenomena where chemistry, sensory play, and social media serendipity collide. This is because jalapeños and Sauvignon Blanc actually have more in common than you might expect. Both jalapeños and Sauvignon Blanc grapes contain pyrazines — aromatic organic compounds that are found in a myriad of other foods like poblanos, serranos, peas, asparagus and cucumbers, that result in their characteristically zesty, nutty and herbaceous aromas. The pyrazines found in Sauvignon Blanc are imparted by the grape skins. 'Pyrazines are incredibly aroma-active so you can detect them at very low concentrations… even in low-doses of a couple nanograms per liter, that vegetal aroma dominates,' explains Megan Brodie, global wine director for Archer Roose Wines. Since Sauvignon Blanc is naturally high in pyrazines — especially New World expressions like those from New Zealand, Chile and California — adding sliced jalapeño to the wine can enhance the wine's inherent notes of citrus, herbs and tropical fruit while adding a subtle heat and layered vegetal quality. 'It creates a vibe that's almost like a spicy margarita but more flirty and elevated,' says Preston Smith, sommelier of Beity in Chicago. He adds: Fresh peppers are key in order for their crisp bite to 'liven the wine, adding a fun jolt across your taste buds' and for 'the pepper's kick to complement the tart grapefruit and passionfruit flavors.' The flavor combination also works because jalapeños are packed with capsaicinoids, another plant-derived compound, that doesn't easily dissolve in liquids like wine. 'Instead, it sits on the palate and mucous membranes, delivering a slow-onset heat that enhances texture and prolongs the finish—almost like the tannin effect in red wines, but spicy,' says Beedle. So it becomes not so much a spicy wine but rather a 'heightened sensory echo of what's already in the glass—like turning up the saturation on a photo.' As interesting of a concept as it is, experimenting with this technique also comes with its limits as you can lose some of the nuance of the wine when you add jalapeño. 'I would never think about adding this to a Sancerre or a French Sauvignon Blanc,' advises Alex Cuper, beverage director of El Che and Brasero. This is because these Old World styles are more delicate, often see oak and aren't as pyrazine-forward. 'Admittedly, I would rather do this with fruits rather than a spicy pepper,' adds Cuper, posing a new challenge for social media: 'Maybe we give pineapple and Chardonnay a try? TikTok, what do you say?'
Forbes
25-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Elizabeth Banks & Archer Roose: A New Pinot Noir And Doubling Growth
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.'
