French Wine Producers Turn to Ready-to-Drink Cocktails as Traditional Sales Decline

Wine producers seek a new route to consumers

French wine cooperatives, growers and wineries are moving into ready-to-drink cocktails as they look for ways to offset declining sales of traditional wine. According to Greek business publication OT, producers see sparkling, flavoured and lower-alcohol drinks as a route to younger consumers and to customers who do not usually choose wine.

Vignerons des Collines du Bourdic, a cooperative in Gard, launched VGaz on 21 June 2025. Its initial production of 9,000 bottles sold out within three months, prompting a second bottling of the same size. The cooperative now hopes to sell 36,000 bottles this year, according to a post by Greek wine cooperative body KEOSOE cited by OT.

Beer-style packaging targets younger buyers

VGaz contains Sauvignon wine, grape must and water, with carbonation and elderflower flavouring. It has an alcohol content of 6.5% and is sold in a dark 33 cl glass bottle with a metal cap, a format more commonly associated with craft beer. Wine is not visibly presented as the central product on the packaging.

The cooperative involved 150 people aged 25 to 30 in product development. Participants assessed nine recipes combining three flavours with three sugar levels, presented in three packaging formats. Elderflower was preferred to ginger and kaffir lime. VGaz was initially sold at the cooperative’s two outlets for €3.75 per bottle, and the producer is now seeking placement through traditional distribution channels.

Bars, festivals and supermarkets broaden demand

At Château Lamothe de Haux in Gironde, Valentine Chombart and Antoine Thurin developed three sparkling drinks under the Goguette Cocktail Vigneron brand. Each contains 6% alcohol and comes in a 33 cl beer-style bottle, priced at €2.90 individually or €34.80 for 12. The white version launched with 15,000 bottles in February 2025 and sold out in five months. Two further bottlings lifted the total to 45,000 bottles.

The winery is prioritising local bars and guinguettes, where limited staffing makes ready-to-serve drinks attractive. It has also introduced 30-litre kegs for draught service. Festivals around Bordeaux selected the format, while the cocktails have gained business from weddings. Chombart told OT that wine sales were falling and that the new products could eventually compensate for part of that decline while modernising the winery’s image.

Producers test cans and larger bottles

Jules Gautret, owned by the Océalia cooperative group, has created two carbonated cocktails using Cognac and Pineau des Charentes. The Fresh Kiss products contain 5% alcohol and are packaged in portable 25 cl aluminium cans priced at €2.80. After the melon-flavoured version was presented at Wine Paris in 2025, distribution began in Charente supermarkets and expanded to the rest of France this year. Volumes doubled within one year, and another recipe is being prepared.

Delaunay Vins & Domaines has taken a different approach, placing its Spritz Citron & Basilic within the existing La Belle Angèle range. The carbonated cocktail combines white wine, water and concentrated must and contains 5.5% alcohol. It is packaged in a 75 cl bottle with a champagne cork to match the rest of the range rather than imitate beer or canned drinks. Available since June, it is being introduced through Grand Frais at about €8, showing how wineries are testing several price points, serving formats and retail channels without abandoning their established brands.