The unexpected rise of blouge wine
The unexpected rise of blouge wine is attracting attention in bars around the world. This light, fresh wine is literally a mix of white (blanc) and red (rouge) grapes, offering a new alternative to rosé and orange wines. Its growing popularity reflects a shift in consumer preferences and winemakers’ creativity.
Origins and creation of blouge wine
Konrad Pixner, a northern Italian winemaker who established Domaine de L’Accent in Languedoc, France, in 2019, explains how blouge came about. After a good harvest in 2023, Pixner found that his largest vat of white wine, made from carignan blanc grapes, had overflowed during fermentation. With no extra space available, he pumped the white juice into a tank containing whole bunches of carignan noir grapes and allowed them to ferment together for 10 days.
This process differs from rosé, which is made by leaving red grapes in contact with their skins for a short time before pressing. Instead, blouge is a blend of white and red grapes fermented together, resulting in a wine that is light, fresh, and best served chilled. Since then, blouge has gained popularity among innovative winemakers worldwide.
Characteristics and appeal of blouge wine
Lucas Madonia, a French winemaker based in Switzerland, describes blouge as a wine suited for casual drinking, especially “for the bar and for apéro, 5pm or 6pm after work, in the sun.” His 2024 blouge, arriving in London in April, blends chasselas white grapes with gamay red grapes. Grown organically on high-altitude south-facing slopes in Valais, this wine offers fruity and aromatic flavors with good acidity.
Madonia’s blouge is a natural wine, produced with minimal intervention and without sulphites or additives. Natural wines like his appeal to younger consumers in their 30s who are open to trying new styles and prefer wines with lower alcohol content. The cooler growing conditions at altitude limit sugar levels in the grapes, resulting in wines with slightly lower alcohol (Madonia’s blouge is 10.7%).
Natural wine bars in cities such as London, Cardiff, Manchester, and Edinburgh have helped popularize new wine styles, including orange wine and now blouge. These venues often use playful descriptors like “fresh,” “vibrant,” and “juicy” to describe blouge, reflecting its approachable and lively character.
Blouge in the context of wine traditions and market trends
While mixing white and red grapes is not a new concept—champagne and Châteauneuf-du-Pape are well-known blends—blouge represents a fresh take on this tradition. In Florence, blends of trebbiano and sangiovese grapes have long been enjoyed for their freshness and suitability for summer drinking.
Blends such as beaujolais, gamay, and grenache, often served chilled, are increasingly favored over fuller-bodied reds like cabernet sauvignon. This trend reflects a broader consumer desire for lighter, fresher wines that can be enjoyed year-round.
Anthony Aubert, co-founder of Aubert et Mathieu, notes that younger generations prefer chilled beverages and wines that are easy to understand and enjoy socially. Their blouge, BoogieWoogie, is a blend of red and white grenache grapes designed to be light, juicy, and fun, suitable for casual occasions like tapas or picnics.
Global examples and availability
- Domaine de L’Accent (France): Pixner’s Blouge 2023, a blend of carignan blanc and unpressed carignan noir, is fresh and food-friendly. Although only 600 bottles have been produced so far, it has attracted interest from importers in New York.
- Domaine Lucas Madonia (Switzerland): The Blouge 2024 is a natural wine blending chasselas and gamay grapes, offering juicy strawberry and raspberry notes. It is recommended chilled on sunny days.
- Aubert et Mathieu (France): Their BoogieWoogie blouge is a light, juicy blend of grenache grapes, designed for easy drinking and social moments. It is priced at £10.98 per 75cl bottle (ex VAT) and will be available in the UK in May.
- Bobo Wines (France/UK): Chris Wawak’s Blouge No 2 is a blend of pinot gris and pinot noir grapes with skin maceration, resulting in flavors of blackcurrants, cherry, and rose petals. It is sold in 2.25-litre boxes priced at £49.
- Scotty Boy (USA): Scott Sampler’s El Sandweeech!!! blends pinot noir and chardonnay grapes, inspired by rustic countryside wines.
- Las Jaras Wines (California, USA): Joel Burt and Eric Wareheim’s Superbloom blends white chenin blanc and viognier with red carignan and grenache noir, offering grapefruit, watermelon, and white tea flavors with spice notes.
These examples illustrate how blouge wines are emerging in diverse wine regions, combining traditional techniques with new approaches to meet evolving consumer tastes.