What do pink gin, craft beer, sparkling wine and rosé have in common? Coles is tipping them as the hottest Christmas drinks trends for 2021.

Coles customer insights show October is when Australians start planning their Christmas entertaining and they’ve shown strong support for local producers this year, so the retailer is spotlighting local wines, craft beers and boutique spirits for the festive season.

Liquorland, First Choice Liquor Market and Vintage Cellars are working with more than 400 local suppliers to source around 2500 products from all corners of the country so customers can add a unique Australian flavour to their celebrations.

Coles is also recruiting about 1400 new team members – equivalent to more than 20% of its total workforce – to ensure it meets customer demand.

Local lighter style wines are expected to be popular Christmas drinks, with Rosé, Tempranillo, and Grenache leading the way recently when it comes to sales growth. The ‘Bio Project’ Tempranillo is a gold medal-winning wine, which not only matches beautifully with rich poultry flavours on the festive dinner table, but also supports the restoration of McLaren Vale’s biodiversity.

New research conducted by IRI shows consumers are more likely to look for environmentally sustainable products than ever before. The research showed that 55% of those surveyed try to purchase environmentally friendly products. 

The Bio Project wines are made in conjunction with Shingleback from McLaren Vale in South Australia, which is committed to undertaking native revegetation within its vineyards. The plants it uses provide benefits to the vineyard by specifically attracting beneficial insects and native birds, improving water quality and restoring some of McLaren Vale’s biodiversity.

Sparkling wine is always a winner at Christmas, with pink bubbles a favourite choice. The Beyond the Wilderness sparkling rosé from Tasmania is predicted to be a top seller.

Coles also recommends its James Busby Barossa Valley Grenache as a perfect pairing with baked ham, with the savoury characters of the wine balancing the sweetness of the meat.

Craft beer is an area where local particularly matters, so the teams at Liquorland, First Choice Liquor Market and Vintage Cellars have worked with more than 120 craft brewers across the country, including Wolf of the Willows, Black Hops and Moon Dog to bring the newest trends to their stores.

When it comes to boutique spirits, gin is still on everyone’s lips, with sales more than doubling over the past two years. Coles’ pick for Christmas 2021 is Mayfair’s Pink Gin. Laced with flavours of strawberries and raspberries, Mayfair heralds from gin’s heartland in the UK and is distilled by the 2020 Gin Distiller of the Year at the prestigious International Spirits Challenge.

According to Google Trends, gin was the most searched for liquor during lockdown, with pink gin the most popular variant.

Finally, sales in low and no-alcohol drinks have doubled for Coles Liquor each year for the past three years. But while the alcohol content is low, the flavour isn’t – Tinnies Ultra Low Alc Hoppy Ale is full of malt flavours and extra hops. The craft beer, which has only 0.5% alcohol, picked up the Trophy for Best Non Alcoholic Beer at the Australian International Beer Awards 2021.

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