Introduction
This week, I’m going to be taking a look at an interesting drink: it’s a sparkling, canned red wine. It’s the first time I’ve seen anything like it, so when I saw it at my local liquor store, for sale at half price, mind you, I had to give it a try. As usual, I’ll kick this off with a little bit about the company and the product. From there, I’ll go over how I tasted it, and what notes I have from that experience. Wrapping things up, I’ll make the case for the kinds of contexts and pairings that I think would work well for this beverage.
The Company and the Drink
Babe Wine is, if nothing else, a case study of how to run a startup. Started in 2018 by a few social media influencers I’ve never heard of and don’t plan on burning the brain cells to become an expert on, the founders quickly got other so-called influencers on board and got Babe in the hands, and Instagram feeds, of as many “famous” people as possible.
In 2019, they were bought out by Anheuser Busch. So, for all of its contemporary aesthetics and famous, model influencers, Babe comes from the same folks who supply Bush Lite.
This wine, a sparkling red, is interesting. Usually, you drink red wines at room temperature. But, since this is sparkling, apparently the thing to do is to drink it cold. Sparkling reds are nothing new, of course, and have been around for centuries. The thing that does make this somewhat novel is the fact that it comes in convenient cans. The cans also do a great job of keeping the carbonation contained. One issue I often have with sparkling wine is that it goes flat before I finish it: the fact that each can is only about a glass worth of wine does do a good job at putting off that problem.
Tasting
In terms of tasting procedures, this one was pretty simple. One chilled in the fridge for a few hours, I popped the can and drank. Especially in light of who owns the brand, anything pretentious beyond that would have been unnecessary.
The experience was an interesting one. The first thing that I noticed was the bubbles, and, in large regard, that was all I got. A lot of the flavors that you’d normally get with a red get somewhat closed off when it’s chilled, and thus the first few sips were mostly bubbles with a slight blackberry finish. As the wine warmed up slightly, the flavors opened up a little, and I got some notes of cherry in addition to the blackberry. The carbonation did also leave a very slight bitter aftertaste, which I did not mind in the least. In fact, my partner and I happily split four cans while unwinding by the pool on a Friday evening, and we enjoyed the experience.
Recommendations
Overall, Babe is a decent, fun wine that, if you can find it on sale, I’d highly recommend. The canned format makes it great for the beach, music festivals, or other places you want to have fun and can’t bring glass. It’s deeply unpretentious, so don’t expect complex flavors. It’d go great with some chips as you and some friends hang out outdoors once it warms up a little bit. Toss some on ice next to the beer in your cooler to mix things up.