First men started wearing pink shirts.
Now they're drinking pink wine. (Tweet This)
Rosé wine sales are growing at least 10 times faster than the growth of overall table wine sales, according to Nielsen research quoted in a Details Magazine story called "Make Way for Brosé: Why More Men Are Drinking Pink."
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"U.S. retail sales of premium imported rosé wines (those priced at or above $12 a bottle) grew by 41 percent on volume and 53 percent on value in 2014," Nielsen reported in January. "This is compared to growth rates of 1.0 percent on volume and 3.3 percent on value for the total table-wine market."
"I think it's great," said Will Templin, the wine manager for Total Wine & More in Northridge, California. "It's everything I'm looking for in a wine—it's cool, it's refreshing. But it's complex, it has a lot of flavor, a lot of depth of acidity."
This is not your grandmother's white zinfandel. White zin made a huge, sugary-sweet splash 30 years ago, before becoming more reviled than New Coke. While Templin says pink moscato is the new white zinfandel, "There's this misconception that all rosés are sweet, and they're not."
Rosés are wines that have touched the skin of the grapes for between three hours and three days, giving them a nice pink color. They are usually less expensive than comparable reds and whites and pair well with food. Pink Champagne is something Templin said you might be able to drink through an entire meal, not just beforehand, "because of the acidity and structure."
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New York is considered a major market for men buying rosés. One start-up called Bout Time Wine is even launching rosé in a can next week.
A video on YouTube stars several men admitting, reluctantly, that they've started drinking the pink stuff. "I do actually love this s--," says one drinker.
"Damn right real men drink Rosé!" tweeted @rdb_pbevgroup, while posting a photo of a keg of the pink stuff strapped in his back seat.
"In a bar in NYC last weekend, and three HUGE guys (were) throwing back ROSE like beer!!" added @biscuitopequeno.
Templin said rosés are more diverse now than they were back in the days of white zinfandel. "With shirts, pink is OK to wear," said Templin. "Why isn't it OK to drink?"