“Château Ambev”? world’s largest brewery will bring Argentine wine to Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – As if the title of the world’s largest brewery were not enough, with a portfolio of over 70 labels, in addition to dozens of other beverages, Brazilian Ambev has decided to expand it with another alcoholic beverage that grew in sales last year – wine.

As of July, the beverage giant will bring a batch of 311,000 bottles of the Argentine Dante Robino to Brazil.

Focused on a young public, the wines will be available through the Zé Delivery app, which belongs to Ambev and is present in over 200 cities.

With deliveries in less than an hour and with the pledge of always chilled drinks, the app will include two sparkling wines – a demi-sec and a brut – and three types of standard wines: one white (chardonnay) and two red, (cabernet sauvignon, and malbec).

Although Grand Cru includes Dante Robino labels in its portfolio, Ambev announced that wine delivery will be exclusive to Zé Delivery.

On the Grand Cru website, a 2019 demi-sec sparkling wine costs R$78.90 (US$15.66). Sales prices through Zé Delivery have not yet been disclosed. The app also offers other wines in its portfolio, such as the canned wine Vivant, and popular lines such as Chilean Gato Negro and Santa Helena.

Ambev’s wine imports trail the rise in wine consumption, which has been growing since the start of the pandemic. Per capita consumption increased 30% in the country, amid social isolation, reaching a maximum of 2.78 liters per inhabitant per year over the age of 18.

With bars closed and parties and events canceled, delivery was also impacted, albeit positively. In 2020, Zé Delivery performed 27 million deliveries.

The purchase of 400 hectares of Argentine winery Dante Robino occurred early last year. However, this was not the company’s first step into the wine segment.

In 2019, AB InBev, owner of Ambev, acquired control of Swish Beverages in 2019. The latter owns Babe Wine, known for its canned wines. Famous on social networks – its poster girl is actress Emily Ratajkowski – the brand sells a rosé, a pinot grigio, and a red in this format – the first two are also sold in bottles.