
They also contained real juice, which seemed to be a healthier alternative to beer. They had fairly low alcohol content, usually under 6%, matching the 1980s’ rise in health and fitness consciousness.


There were a lot of factors that contributed to the popularity of wine coolers. What factors contributed to the rise of the wine cooler? However, wine cocktails had never been so widely available, especially in convenient, single-serve bottles. Before the 1980s, wine was used in cocktails like sangria or spritzers. Wine coolers weren’t the first wine cocktail. The market was totally saturated with this sweet, fizzy beverage. Other big booze companies wanted to capitalize on the craze, and more brands of wine coolers began being developed. By 1984, they were selling 10 million cases per year. Crete noticed the drink’s popularity among his friends and teamed up with friend Stuart Bewley to package and sell the cocktails.Īfter years of testing and development, California Cooler hit the shelves and quickly gained popularity. It was originally made as a tropical, refreshing beach drink, combining pineapple, grapefruit, and lemon-lime with white wine and club soda. The original wine cooler was called the California Cooler and was invented by a man named Michael Crete. The wine cooler craze reached its peak in 1987 when wine cooler sales topped a billion dollars annually, and the sweet cocktails accounted for 20% of all wine sold in the United States. The first wine coolers were bottled and sold commercially in 1981. Eventually, they faded out of popularity to make way for a new fad. These cloyingly sweet beverages were popular for a while. They were fairly light on alcohol, containing about 4% to 6% ABV. They usually contained pulp, artificial fruit flavors, and cheap wine. Wine coolers were originally marketed as a soda pop beverage for adults. The first wine coolers were homemade and usually combined a light white wine with a lemon-lime soda. Wine coolers are a derivative of a wine spritzer, a chilled white wine cocktail mixed with a spritz of sparkling water. In general, a wine cooler combines wine, fruit juice, sugar, and carbonated water. They also have a reputation for being drunk by sorority girls, as they’re very easy to drink and light on the alcohol.

Wine coolers are often thought to be intensely sweet and made with very cheap wine. If you have heard of a wine cooler, you may also know about the negative connotations usually associated with them. Let’s define what a wine cooler is, learn a little bit about its history, and get some great wine cooler recipes that are perfectly refreshing for the summer. If you’re in the dark, don’t worry, we’re here to help. There’s a good chance you may not even know what a wine cooler really is. However, since then, they’ve been on a roller coaster of popularity, going in and out of fashion. They’re sweet, refreshing, and a great way to stretch out a bottle of wine. In the 1980s, wine coolers were all the rage.
