Drinks Insider

It’s the midnight idea that launched a sensation — Zoncello, the “it” drink of summer 2023 that’s now an established classic.

Micallef, a former electrician turned restaurateur and winemaker, created a limoncello/Prosecco spritz that hit the sweet spot between low-alcohol refreshment, Italian nostalgia, and post-lockdown escapism. From the restaurant floor to Dan Murphy’s shelves to Fresh Hippo’s 500 stores in China, Zoncello’s rise offers a masterclass in innovation and operational nerve.

Felicity and Rod unpack the real mechanics of the boom — from cashflow chaos and supplier contracts to the bizarre “vegetable wine” tax category that made the product viable. Micallef discusses what happened when his suppliers ran out of lemon, and how cohesive branding kept him ahead of imitators. 

He also shares his new ideas, discusses his Zonzo Estate, and makes a prediction for the category.

The takeaways:

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

And Drinks Insider is an award-winning podcast! It has won the 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator Award in Audio.

Nicholas Crampton has pulled off what many in wine say can’t be done: turning a small redundancy pay out into a multi-million dollar wine juggernaut. As co-founder of Fourth Wave Wines, Nick has mastered the art of “trend-first, retail-ready” wine: spotting shifts in London, Paris or the Hamptons, adapting them to mainstream shelves, and negotiating hard with Australian retail giants like Dan Murphy’s and BWS. The result is a stable of 45 brands, including lighter, sustainable labels like Tread Softly and unapologetically full-flavoured wines like Elephant in the Room.

In this episode, Nick explains why consumer testing is overrated, why Dan Murphy’s functions as his “number one export salesman,” and how Fourth Wave uses packaging, pricing, and design to give boutique ideas mass appeal. We cover natural wine, flavoured sparkling, the rise of Bento for Asian dining, and even high-strength Shiraz under the Mullet brand. It’s a rare look at how a modern wine company thrives not through vineyard pedigree but through brand architecture, ruthless pragmatism, and a nose for what’s coming next. And it's a playbook that can be used in any market.

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

And Drinks Insider is an award-winning podcast! It has won the 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator Award in Audio.

Kate Herbert used to sell cereal and pet food at General Mills and J.M. Smucker. Now she’s in wine, where the budgets are smaller, the competition is insane (110,000 SKUs in the US alone), and the glamour wears off the moment you look behind the curtain. Her first year on the job produced something unusual: Ranch Wine. It looks like an RTD, comes in at 11% ABV, and tastes like pineapple, strawberry or cherry — except it’s all grapes, no flavourings. “Flavourful, not flavoured,” as she keeps repeating, because even her own winemakers didn’t believe it at first.

The project went from idea to shelf in about five months, which is nothing in wine terms. Demos had to be staged with rocks glasses, ice, salt and tajín rims, because influencers kept pouring it into stemware. Off-aisle displays work better than the varietal wall; younger drinkers don’t even walk the aisle. The result: 50,000 cases in six months, 40% of them in places Bonterra had never been before. It’s a reminder that agility, not heritage, is what makes innovation land — and that taste still beats every sustainability claim on the shelf.

00:28 CPG to wine: what transfers and what doesn’t

02:33 Why wine is hard: 110,000 SKUs and thin resourcing

03:51 Pet-food “health halo” and what it taught Kate

06:05 Ranch water explained and the $115m signal

06:32 Thinking like a beverage brand, not a wine brand

10:25 Concept testing, packaging-first surveys, 85% non-wine appeal

11:52 Numerator/Cydex insights on Gen Z drivers

13:38 Flavour-forward yet grape-only; “flavourful, not flavoured”

19:38 Demos, influencers, and breaking the stemmed-glass reflex

28:40 From brief to shelf in ~5 months; why agility mattered

30:31 Scaling and distribution; national, ~50k cases

And don’t forget to sign up to the Drinks Insider newsletter!

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

And Drinks Insider is an award-winning podcast! It has won the 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator Award in Audio.

How did US wine lose the plot — and a whole generation of new consumers?

Cory Assink and Zeke Blattler, co-founders of Los Cuernos, explain what happened and how they’re rebuilding the on-trade wine category, one consumer trial at a time.

They discuss the incentive failures of the three-tier system, why on-premise margins bred stale product and bad value, and how beer distributors outmanoeuvred wine by owning convenience and single-serve. 

They detail how they grew their accounts from 0 to more than 240. Forecast: ~15k cases this year, aiming for 50–70k next year.

And don’t forget to sign up to the Drinks Insider newsletter!

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

There’s a wine downturn going on, and yet The Wine Group, America’s second-largest wine company, is snapping up brands like the market is expanding. Felicity Carter speaks with CEO John Sutton, who explains why he remains bullish on wine even as headlines warn of slowdown. Earlier this year, The Wine Group bought a suite of Constellation Brands labels, including Meiomi, Robert Mondavi Private Selection and Woodbridge, plus vineyards and production facilities — a deal Sutton describes as both a vote of confidence and a deliberate decision to consolidate scale.

He discusses how the company rehabilitates neglected brands, the growth of private label in the US, and why premiumisation still matters despite pressure on value wines. Sutton also outlines how portfolio segmentation works inside a business with more than 60 brands, when to divest rather than persist, and how alternative packaging such as boxed wine and single-serve formats are reshaping consumer behaviour.

The conversation ranges from Gen Z’s cross-category drinking habits to the rise of “better-for-you” low- and no-alcohol wines, and the surprising growth of very high-alcohol styles. Sutton also explains The Wine Group’s longer-term ambitions in spirits and functional beverages, while keeping the focus on wine innovation, channel expansion, and premiumisation.

And don’t forget to sign up to the Drinks Insider newsletter!

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

How did a scrappy idea born in a London garage turn into one of the world’s most recognisable oat milk brands? From the early days of KeepCup to building the first shelf-stable cold brew, Stuart shares the hard truths about entrepreneurship in food and drink — wafer-thin margins, constant reinvention, and the sheer expense of creating a new category.

Their conversation dives into the evolution of plant-based beverages, the chaotic launch into the US market during the Great Oat Milk Shortage, and the role of timing, luck, and relentless work. Stuart is candid about investor relationships, the bruising challenges of scaling internationally, and why Minor Figures doesn't just sell oak milk — it sells attitude. And also why oat milk is the perfect pairing with coffee.

Key moments:

00:52 How creating a product that fits seamlessly into existing workflows, like KeepCup’s size matching disposable cups, can drive rapid adoption.

11:28 The virtues of launching with a “minimum lovable product” rather than a minimum viable one.

12:11 How commercial failure can still attract big players if you’re solving a technical problem no one else has cracked.

21:07 In beverage distribution, you often need to create demand first so that distributors are willing to carry you.

24:08 Proving product-market fit comes before scaling local production, even if international shipping is costly.

25:52 External shocks like tariffs can create operational drama, so resilient supply chains are essential.

27:54 Winning over industry tastemakers (like roasters) can cascade into broader adoption through their networks.

34:47 Investor partners who genuinely love the product often provide more support and better terms than purely financial backers.

39:50 Growth can overwhelm back-office systems, so prepare for scaling pain long before you need it.

49:59 New categories are extremely expensive to grow, so anchoring your product in a passionate community is critical.

And don’t forget to sign up to the Drinks Insider newsletter!

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

What actually happens when the alcohol industry gets a seat at the global health table? In this episode, Julian Braithwait, the former UK ambassador to the UN and now Director General of the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking, lays out how international alcohol policy is made and contested.

From WHO mandates to temperance NGOs and the upcoming UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs, this wide-ranging discussion explores why “no safe level” is a political slogan, not a scientific consensus and what’s at stake if the global policy framework shifts away from managing harmful drinking.

Topics Covered:

What IARD is and how it works with global institutions

The difference between WHO Geneva and its regional offices

What ECOSOC status actually allows industry to do

How the alcohol sector is reforming digital marketing

The science behind “no safe level” and why it's controversial

Influence of Bloomberg and Gates Foundation in WHO policy

The risk of a Framework Convention on Alcohol Control

Illicit alcohol and emerging market risks

How temperance groups gained formal recognition

Why upcoming UN resolutions could change everything

And don’t forget to sign up to the Drinks Insider newsletter!

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

Allison Luvera, co-founder of Juliet, joins Drinks Insider to talk about how she  built a premium boxed wine brand in the US. She reveals how pandemic insights led to launching Eco-Magnum, how her background in fashion and at Pernod Ricard shaped strategy, and the reality of creating a new wine packaging format. Allison explains fundraising challenges, distribution hurdles, and why direct-to-consumer is vital for proof of concept. She shares lessons on hiring, influencer marketing, customer insights, and what it takes to premiumise boxed wine in a sceptical market.

00:20 Allison realised during the pandemic that boxed wine offered convenience but lacked premium quality and branding.

01:30 Seeing boxed wine as eco-friendly drove Juliet’s mission to premiumise the format for aspirational consumers.

05:12 Despite a wine marketing background, Allison had to build supply chain knowledge from scratch through her network.

06:57 Juliet created its own cylindrical Eco-Magnum packaging to stand out in retail and convey luxury.

10:52 Allison did an MBA before launching Juliet to gain operations, finance, and fundraising skills.

15:30 Their first fundraising round started with family and friends before expanding to angels and family offices.

23:16 Distributors initially resisted because they wanted proof of retail success before onboarding Juliet.

29:33 For their first hire, Juliet prioritised marketing support while founders did direct sales themselves.

33:30 DTC data revealed their customer is predominantly women under 44, including strong suburban demand.

45:53 Allison warns founders not to enter alcohol without understanding compliance, distribution, and category nuance.

And don’t forget to sign up to the Drinks Insider newsletter!

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

What happens when two friends in their twenties get fed up with syrupy energy drinks and decide to invent a caffeinated water that actually tastes like water? Orka founders Michael Moriarty and Nash Hale join Drinks Insider to talk about their journey from college roommates to beverage entrepreneurs. They reveal how they raised $355K in friends-and-family money, endured a year of catastrophic production failures, and finally cracked the code for manufacturing a clear pressurised can — just in time to ride a viral wave on Amazon.

We cover:

If you’re dreaming of launching a drink brand, this is a must-listen.

And don’t forget to sign up to the Drinks Insider newsletter!

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

What kind of founder quits a high-paying tech job to launch a single-SKU wine brand in an unfamiliar package — and manages to raise $1.4 million to do it?

In this episode, Felicity talks to Daniel Rodriguez, founder of Currently Wine Co., a Sauvignon Blanc from California’s Central Coast packaged in an aluminium bottle. The packaging isn’t just a gimmick: it’s core to the bigger mission of lowering the carbon footprint of wine while supporting nearshore environmental projects, from oyster bed regeneration to coral reef restoration.

Daniel explains how he:

Raised nearly $1 million from friends and former colleagues in a friends-and-family round

Opened up a second round via crowdfunding to let everyday consumers invest

Acquired the assets of ProudPour and turned them into a more focused brand

Solved the technical nightmare of bottling wine in aluminium with a closure nobody had standardised

Chose to launch with just one wine, in one region, despite distributor pressure to go wide

We also cover:

Why distribution is the biggest bottleneck for new wine brands

The branding lessons he brought over from tech (and why wine needs to catch up)

The rigorous taste-testing process behind the wine itself—and why he scrapped several early blends

Whether you're a founder, investor, distributor, or just curious about how wine brands actually get built, this is a rare, nuts-and-bolts conversation about what it really takes to launch something new in a saturated market.

Mentioned in this episode:

Currently Wine

Republic (crowdfunding platform)

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.