Freixenet, based in Spain, is an extremely successful Cava (sparkling wine) producer. Its bubblies are widely available nationally.
Bonterra, based in Mendocino County, is a producer of fine-quality, organic wines that regularly win awards for quality at wine competitions.
Besides being wine companies, the two firms share another commonality: both produce RTDs. For the uninitiated, an RTD is an industry acronym for premixed cocktails and hard beverages that are relatively small, easy to chill, frequently made with lower-alcohol, lower-calorie ingredients, and not very expensive.
So they’re Ready to Drink.
Since this is a wine column, I'll explain why I’m writing about these vodka-gin-malt-whiskey-based beverages. They are so popular that wine industry analysts accuse RTDs’ success of weakening the U.S. wine industry.
Slow sales of wine in the last few years have caused two dozen or more wineries to go out of business, have hurt the restaurant trade and caused a cataclysmic effect throughout the wine production business.
The main reason RTDs are blamed as a major reason for wine’s weakness is that the next generation of wine consumers, made up primarily of people who are aged 21 to 30 (or thereabouts), has traditionally been looked upon as entry-level wine lovers.
Unlike previous younger generations, this newer group didn’t adopt wine. Decades ago, young buyers of alcoholic beverages were given early premixed drinks (even before RTD was an acronym) and found that they liked them.
But not in the numbers we’re now seeing. For one thing, new consumers didn’t have to find a recipe for a sidecar, a Manhattan, or even a martini. Standard drinks were already premixed and ready to consume. And many of the more traditional drinks were made unconventionally.
Using flavor enhancers like peach, tangerine, blackberry, and strawberry, many of these RTDs are essentially alcoholic soda. They are sweet and can replace dry wine in a more convenient package.
And buyers don’t have to know the difference between a chardonnay and a tannat.
One of the most widely distributed RTDs is called High Noon, a flavored hard seltzer produced by Gallo, the Modesto wine company. In 2024 and 2025, the company sold an estimated 50 million cases of its flavored RTD. The company also added another item, Lucky One, a vodka-laced lemonade.
Although there is no official count, beverage analysts estimate that hundreds of wine companies throughout the country now make some kind of RTD product.
The category is so large that there is now a publication called RTD Magazine. In a statement on its website, the magazine said, “RTD Magazine is more than a publication; it is a resource for the entire ready-to-drink alcoholic beverage trade. We work closely with brands and their partners to ensure that the RTD category continues to move toward a standard of quality and continuing innovation.”
RTDs now represent an enormous share of the alcoholic beverage market and their popularity clearly isn’t a fad. It will be around for a long time. Or, at least until this new generation discovers the joys of fine dry wine.
A final suggestion: The flavors of quality wine aren’t being completely abandoned. Try adding two to three ounces of cranberry juice to a moderately priced sauvignon blanc and voila! You now have a home-made RTD.
No Wine of the Week
