Two Toronto wine families launch stel+mar: ‘Really, really good’ California wine in cans and boxes
TORONTO and SAN FRANCISCO, April 23, 2020 /CNW/ – Modern winery Sheep Black Wine launches stel+mar premium California wine packaged in ultra-portable and environmentally friendly cans and boxes.
Toronto born-and-raised company founders, Chris Noll and Justin Dumitrescu ventured to California with the goal of creating a modern winery that would put premium quality wine ordinarily only available in bottles, into portable packaging formats including cans and boxes.
The two Canadian entrepreneurs got the idea while their families were picnicking. They said, “The food was easy to grab and load into the picnic basket or traditional empty hamper baskets but the wine was a challenge. Everyone had different varietal favourites and then there was the glasses and corkscrews – it was too much work.”
The families agreed to form a partnership, sourcing only premium wine and then packaging it into cans – “an easily accessible and environmentally friendly format, that would allow them to enjoy great wine anywhere their full lives chose to take them.”
Year-to-date, the canned wine category is up 94.9% over the past year. Despite rocketing growth, options for really good wine in cans is limited, forcing consumers to sacrifice taste for convenience. “That’s when the lightbulb went off in our heads,” said Co-Founder Justin Dumitrescu. “We didn’t think you needed to sacrifice taste to get convenience, so we went to work putting really, really, really good California wine in cans and boxes.” With the launch of stel+mar, consumers can now get highly rated California wine in modern designed and convenient single-serve packaging formats.
Premium California wines
stel+mar only uses premium California wines that are low sugar but fruit-forward – wines that are sure to impress new and loyal wine drinkers alike. Wines are packaged in ultra-portable single-serve cans (250ml) and Tetra Pak boxes (500ml).
“One of the major benefits of cans and boxes is that you can take them anywhere,” said Co-Founder Chris Noll. “With stel+mar, really good wine can now go where you go – to the park, to the party, to the dock…all the places traditional bottled wine couldn’t go.”
In addition to convenience, portion control is a huge surprise benefit for most consumers. “People often open up a bottle of wine and either end up wasting some of it or feel obligated to drink more than they wanted. With stel+mar, that problem goes away; you can open one, two, three, or more cans if you want more wine.”
Cans and boxes also have a much lower carbon footprint for the environment: glass bottles are heavy and bulky to ship; cans and boxes are significantly lighter and more efficient to ship, resulting in less trucks on the road.
Five premium wines over the next 12 months
Over the next 12 months, stel+mar will launch five premium wines: a dry classic style Zinfandel (100% Red Zinfandel) from Lodi, California with notes of raspberry, blackberry and cherry; a dry but fruit-forward 100% Unoaked Chardonnay from the North Coast of California with flavours of ripe green apple, melon, and hints of caramel; a killer Grenache/Syrah Rosé that’s exceptionally well-balanced with notes of ripe nectarine, grapefruit, and strawberry; and a Sparkling White and Sparkling Rosé that are perfect wines for savouring or celebrating, whether they’re served in a glass or enjoyed straight from the can.
Sheep Black Wine is also proud to announce a brand new and exciting innovation in wine packaging. Launching June 2020, stel+mar Premium Rosé will come in a box of 6x500ml Tetra Paks!
stel+mar 6x500ml Tetra Pak contains three litres (3L) of really, really, really good California Rosé wine with the added convenience of six individual 500ml single-serve units. “With this innovation, consumers get the best of three worlds: the taste of premium California wine, the size and value of three litre boxed wine, and the convenience of single-serve portable wine,” said Co-Founder Chris Noll. “In addition, it’s the most environmentally-friendly packaging option available to wine drinkers.” “We think this is a game-changer for wine,” added Co-Founder Justin Dumitrescu.
Sheep Black Wine launched stel+mar (pronounced stel and mar) in early 2019. stel+mar is now available across Canada (except for Quebec) starting with Premium Red and Premium White in 250ml cans (MSRP $4.95, available now) and Premium Rosé in 6x500ml Tetra Pak (MRSP $45.95 for 3 Litres, available June 2020).
For more information about stel+mar, please visit www.stelandmar.com and follow @stelandmar on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
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