Rosé Water, a wine and sparkling water hybrid created in Wilmington, is hitting the shelves locally and throughout the U.S. just in time for summer.

Co-founders Amy and Rob Kuchar said they wanted to bring an all-natural, lower-alcohol product to the wine market.

“Today’s consumer is focused on health and wellness in all aspects of their life,” said Rob Kuchar. “They want authentic products with real, identifiable ingredients. So, what we’ve done with Rosé Water is to simply give the consumer what they’ve been asking for - a well-crafted, wine-based beverage that tastes great and has absolutely nothing artificial.”

Rosé Water is a dry rosé wine and sparkling water hybrid, with 69 calories per serving, zero sugar and no additional flavoring. It is sold by the six pack in 8.5 oz. cans, and each can is 4.9% ABV, making less than half most glasses of wine.

“Rosé Water was created out of our desire to have a light, refreshing wine-based beverage that can be enjoyed on the go,” Kuchar said.

The rosé blend includes several grape varietals, including French Pinot Noir, Gamay, and Cabernet Franc grapes, all grown in the heart of France’s Loire Valley. This blend is cultivated to be mixed with sparkling water sourced from the Austrian Alps.

The blend travels from France to Austria, where it is mixed, canned, and then shipped to Wilmington for distribution.

“The wine industry has attempted to figure out many ways over the years to defend and grow their market share in the adult beverage category but ended up creating products that were inexpensive and artificially flavored, so they were quickly outdone,” said Kuchar. “For example, wine coolers in the 90s and now spiked seltzers. Bottom line – the scale at which the larger industry operates, opened the door for the introduction of something truly unique and we couldn’t be more excited by the response we’ve received to Rosé Water.”

The Kuchars plan to roll out several other varietals over the next 24-48 months.

Rosé Water is available at select retailers in more than 15 states across the U.S., including North Carolina, Maryland, Massachusetts, South Carolina, California and Illinois. Locally it can be found at its very first distribution location, Lighthouse Beer and Wine in Wrightsville Beach, as well as at Harris Teeter, Lowes Foods and Whole Foods.

It is also available at several area breweries. The wine water hybrid plans to be in more than 60 markets across 48 states by the end of 2020. 

The Kuchars said they believe in supporting local clean water initiatives and plan to donate 5% of all Rosé Water sales to Cape Fear River Watch.

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