Orange Wine Grows 55% on Drizly in Year
Maybe it's time to move to Florida, buy an orange grove and start growing oranges and producing orange wine. Drizly reports orange wine has experienced a 55% share growth of the past year.
“While orange wine remains a small piece of the total wine category, it is among the fastest-growing wine categories in the past year,” says Liz Paquette, Drizly’s head of consumer insights, adding the subcategory has grown from 0.11% of total wine share to 0.17% of total wine share in the past 12 months. “Orange wine has seen increased coverage in the media, driving consumer interest in the ‘new’ wine category,” explains Paquette. “Additionally, as happened with rosé, the striking color of this wine likely contributes to consumer interest.”
Because orange wines can be made from any white grape variety, their flavor profiles vary widely, offering consumers a vast range of styles – and appealing to a number of different types of consumers.
Spain remains the most popular country of origin for orange wines sold on Drizly, accounting for 34% of category share in the past 12 months and 26% of share during the prior 12 months. Orange wines from Austria, Italy, and the U.S. are also popular. Over the past 12 months, these four countries accounted for 88 percent of orange wines sold on Drizly.
Across the platform, orange wines in the $20 to $30 range account for 55 percent of category sales, while those in the $10 to $20 range make up 43 percent of share.
Well-Known Orange Wines Brands Lead the Way
Consumers across the Drizly universe have shown dedication to the top brands within the category, with the top four most popular orange wine brands remaining steady even as the category grew dramatically. The top four brands over the past 12 months are Gulp Hablo Orange Wine, Biokult Naken Orange Wine, Field Recordings Skins Orange Wine, and Borgo Savaian Aransat Friuli-Venezia Giulia Orange Wine. From Spain, Austria, the United States, and Italy, respectively, these SKUs also align with overall regional popularity trends.
Other popular orange wines on Drizly include Meinklang ‘Weisser Mulatschak,’ Vichingo Costa Toscana Vermentino Macerato Sulle Bucce, Glinavos Paleokerisio Semi-Sparkling Orange Wine, Punctum 20.000 Leguas Orange Wine, Bosman Fides Grenache Blanc, and Gerard Bertrand Orange Gold Organic.
Orange Wines Are Escaping the Cities
To date, orange wine sales over-index on Drizly in major cities, specifically New York City and Los Angeles. While these cities tend to be bellwethers for large beverage trends such as ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails and rosé wine, orange wines are quickly becoming easier to find and enjoy outside of major cities as well.
“Though it remains harder to find than other wine categories, adding orange wine to your inventory is an opportunity to set yourself apart, particularly on online marketplaces like Drizly that can help attract new customers,” says Paquette.
According to Drizly data, most orange wines are sold alongside other wines, indicating this is a trend to watch among wine consumers rather than the drinking population at large – though that could change as more orange wines become available. “As inventory continues to grow and orange wine becomes available we expect more and more consumers to be interested in trying it,” says Paquette.
The Next Phase for Orange Wines
“I think that the category will expand greatly as more and more people start making orange wine,” says Whidbee, noting this poses both opportunity and challenge for consumers. “It’s exciting because we will start to see a larger variety of great and easy-drinking orange wine, but it also means that there will be more commercially made wines in this category that may include additives to make them fit the category, as opposed to being made naturally.”
Drizly data is already indicating that new entrants to the market are becoming popular with consumers on the platform: The top five fastest-growing orange wines in 2023 to date include bottles from less-popular regions, and four of the five fastest-growing orange wines are from brands that didn’t previously make Drizly’s top 10. This year to date, the five fastest growing orange wine brands on Drizly are Chile’s Echeverria, Australia’s Unico Zelo, Oregon’s Swick Wines, Spain’s Cellers de Can Suriol, and France’s Gerard Bertrand.
Based on this data, retailers could consider stocking orange wines from a range of places to capitalize on this trend. However, despite consumers’ continued interest in alternative formats in other categories like spirits and RTD cocktails, popular orange wines are overwhelmingly purchased in traditional formats, rather than in formats like cans.