Blue wine is coming to Europe

As the debate between red wine versus white wine rages on, one Spanish start-up has quietly introduced a blue variety into the mix, Eater reports.

The bright blue beverage, dubbed Gik, is the creation of six young entrepreneurs with no previous experience in the winemaking industry. They collaborated with University of the Basque Country and the food research department of the Basque Government to make the product, and they are now preparing to retail it in stores throughout Europe in the next coming months.

The Basque region of Spain is traditionally known for its sparkling, acidic wine, but Gik aims to stand out from the current options. Co-founder Aritz López told Eater that his team felt the Spanish wine scene was “missing a little revolution”, so they set out to create something innovative. Gik is made from a blend of red and white grapes with a non-calorie sweetener added in. Though the colour resembles something you’d find in the cleaning supplies aisle, the ingredients that create the effect are all natural. A pigment found in grape skin and indigo from the Isatis tinctoria plant are responsible for the wine’s alarming hue. The wine’s shade —which according to López represents “movement, innovation, fluidity, change, and infinity” — is intended to appeal to millennial buyers. With an alcohol content percentage of 11.5, Gik is comparable to a Zinfandel or Prosecco, and a 750 ml bottle retails for about $11.

Stores in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK are currently in line to start selling the product with potential for it to make its way to the US down the road. While they may have the blue wine market cornered, there’s at least one blue-hued beer brand out there Gik will be competing with.

Source: www.mentalfloss.com