It does for Cupcake Vineyards, the ubiquitous brand that is popping up everywhere.
Cupcake Vineyards is the product of Underdog Wines Spirits – owners of the flipflop and Fisheye wine brands – which launched the label in Soledad, Calif., in 2008. After building their West Coast brand using grapes from the Central Coast, it introduced a sauvignon blanc from New Zealand, then a malbec from Argentina. Today it sells wines under the Cupcake label from such locations as Austria, Australia, Washington state, Germany and Italy.
The company has grown from making 10,000 cases in 2006 to a whopping 1 million cases today.
Serious wine collectors will frown on this concept of a worldwide brand, but there is no disputing its brilliance.
We met with winemaker Adam Richardson, a native Australian, recently with considerable skepticism. But the winemaker and international wine director made a good case.
First, the name Cupcake. Is there anything not to like about it? Richardson said that the name makes you feel good and reminds you of the rewards you got for doing some right as a child. Normally, we would scoff at such market-babble had we not witnessed the theory at a Navy tailgate. A woman brought out a bottle of Cupcake moscato and said, “How can you not like a wine named ‘Cupcake?’” She was attracted to the wine because of the name and the colors on the label.
Cupcake’s growth is a result of it identifying consumer tastes. Adam said the brand is having great success among millennials who are less particular about conventions and more driven to enjoy tasty wine. If they like Cupcake’s California chardonnay, it an easy transition for them to choose Cupcake’s Italian prosecco – just another flavor but the same reliable producer. This is a different concept than that of Gallo, a world-wide producer that represents wines from around the country but sold under different labels.
“People who drink Cupcake are comfortable about moving from one region to the other,” he said.
Richardson says he develops these wines for the American market, but is diplomatically careful about defining the prejudices of the American palate. We’ll do it for him: despite what consumers say, many like their wines a little sweet. The Cupcake chardonnay has some residual sugar, for instance, and a zinfandel-based blend called Red Velvet is as jammy as Smuckers.
In fact, millennials have taken a real liking to sweet wines, a point we’re hearing more often from the younger generation. Producers are seeing double-digit growth of these wines in the South and Midwest. According to the Nielsen Co., the sweet red wine market has grown 247 percent in sales over the last year. E.J. Gallo and Sutter Home launched sweet red wines last year – a sure sign the trend is afoot.
Richardson said the common themes of Cupcake are that the wines are very generous in fruit, user-friendly, flexible with food and made with structure and region identity.
The wines we sampled were all priced at $14.
Cupcake Vineyards Italian Prosecco. We’ve seen this sparkling wine frequently at weddings and receptions this year. The name is a conversation starter and the price is right. Very aromatic, low in alcohol and representative of the region.
Cupcake Vineyards New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc 2011. This was our favorite. The herbaceous and tart personality associated with Kiwi sauvignon blancs were muted. Grapefruit and mineral notes with soft mouthfeel made for an enjoyable wine even if it wasn’t classic New Zealand. Very generous aromas.
Cupcake Vineyards California Chardonnay 2010. Richardson said the objective is to make a creamy textured wine with soft mouthfeel. Nice spice and apple notes. He achieves that from these Central Coast grapes but it’s a generic chardonnay.
Cupcake Vineyards Barossa Shiraz 2010. Very pleasant and forward shiraz with rich, ripe berry flavors that aren’t over the top.
Some of the wines recommended in our column may have been provided for review by their producers. The authors can be reached at tmarquardt@capital gazette.com.
Article source: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2011/10_12-36/FNW
