One of the really wonderful developments in our business over the last 15 or so years has been the burgeoning and ascendency of dry rose wines in the public consciousness – a fancy sentence that means rose sells and is here to stay!

The thoughtful wine professional has ridden this pink wave and made a vibrant and diverse (and profit-rich) offering of roses that make sense for their clientele, but there are still many out there that seem to be missing the big pink boat somehow.  You’d be amazed how many smart industry people fail to take rose “seriously” as a category

Rose as its own category in your pos system

If you aren’t looking at Rose wine as its own category you could be missing a lot!  Smart buyers look for sales trends from year to year in categories. If your rose offerings are slushed into other categories (like French rose under French wines) you won’t be able to gauge your rose sales as a yearly whole without a lot of extra accounting.  Watching the steady growth in rose sales over the past 15 years has made buying smartly and aggressively a natural for the informed account.

Rose vis a vis the calendar

If you haven’t been paying attention, Rose season begins earlier and ends later seemingly every year.  You can make a marketable argument that rose season, and your rose campaign, begins at Valentine’s Day and ends at Thanksgiving – but does it really end? Customers who love rose are requesting it throughout the fall and many find it to be essentially interchangeable with many white wines and can you blame them?  Delicious, food-friendly, and fun plays all year round!

The days of trying to run out of rose by Labor Day are over.  Managing your selection and supply into the off-season can be a challenge, and against ingrained instincts, but there is now such a glut of rose left in September and beyond that, there are some great closeouts and deals to be had.  Just another reason to extend the season!

The Rose price threshold keeps going up

The price threshold for rose has been rising.  A name like Domaine Ott has always been holding ground above $35 but there are price points going backwards from there that can be filled and should be filled.

Sell off of the Whispering Angels and Chateau Miravals within the category and you will find very little customer resistance if you believe in your offerings.  Ask yourself if you are selling more $25 chardonnays or $25 roses from April through October?  The answer may surprise you.

The Rose customer is the LEAST brand loyal, customer

The rose customer is NOT as locked into brands as a cabernet customer would be for example.

It is a “new” category and customers are open to experimentation.  Rose is inherently “fresh and new” and customers will gladly experiment within your range of rose offerings.  It is far easier to put a Greek rose into a customer’s cart than a Greek red wine for example.

Diversify your Rose offering with different formats

There is plenty of consumer interest in larger format bottles, BiBs, and even cans… don’t be afraid to diversify!  Every time I have been worried about a purchase of rose in a format outside of the standard 750ml size, my worries were proven to be misguided.

Younger customers, in particular, seem to love the 3.0 Liter BiB formats and really drive the sale of cans as well.  The freshness of rose is perfect for these formats

About The Author:

This article is contributed by George Feaver. He is a Spiritual Director at Grapes The Wine Co. which was founded in the fall of 1997 with the intention of making the world´s greatest wines more accessible. We strive to offer wines of all styles, of exceptional quality, and of great value.