Zoncello, the limoncello spritz that has been credited with putting the wine category back in growth, has cracked the million-bottle sales mark.

Only released in February last year, the innovation has been a runaway success for Yarra Valley wine producer Zonzo Estate. Made with Zonzo Estate’s Limoncello and Prosecco, it retails for less than $25 a bottle.

Dan Murphy’s began stocking it nationally in August 2023 and it went on to become the retailer’s no. 1 new wine product for 2023. Zoncello is now available at a wide range of independent and big-box retailers throughout the country.

“In December, we were sending out 100 pallets (around 65,000 bottles) a week,” Zonzo Director Rod Micallef told the Australian Financial Review this week. “It was insane.”

Micallef entered the spritz space during the pandemic, when he decided to launch a product that would appeal to buyers online.

“Like every winery, we needed cash flow,” he said. “We needed other products, not just wines. That’s how we ended up making a spritz.”

His first release was a bottled Bellini, which he recently relaunched as ‘Bellina’. Then he turned to his homemade Limoncello for inspiration.

“We were the first in the world to bottle a limoncello spritz,” he said. “I’ve googled the crap out of it, and I can’t find anyone who did it before us.”

At Endeavour Group’s first Supplier Forum of 2024, Buying and Merchandising Director Tim Carroll said: “Its soaring popularity has resonated not only with younger audiences with sweeter palettes but also older drinkers who see it as a nod to Italian history. This has been an incredible example of innovation, following consumer trends feeding back into an established brand story.”

In February 2024, Endeavour Group CEO Steve Donohue said lemon-flavoured drinks such as Zoncello and Hard Rated had been major growth drivers for the group.

“People are loving anything that is refreshing and lemon flavour is one of the most refreshing drinks out there,” he said.

“What we’ve also seen is an explosion in demand for limoncello, for example. We just about doubled our sales in limoncello in Dan Murphy’s in December.”