Wine giant Beringer is now making flavor strips as an alternative way to sample their wares. Reinforcing their research, which states that 94 percent of women surveyed say sampling is more effective than advertising, Beringer is producing the strips in chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and white zinfandel flavors according to Wine Searcher
The flavor strips—which are presented similarly to coupons in grocery store aisles—are, somewhat disappointingly, non-alcoholic. They’re “flavored” with a list of ingredients commonly found in cosmetics and breath freshening strips. Based on Wine Searcher’s sampling, the strips taste a little like wine and a lot like baseball card bubblegum.
Of the three available flavors, chardonnay is the most similar to the actual wine: “mostly lemony, quite sweet in the beginning but less so on the finish, with a plasticky aftertaste.” The cabernet sauvignon apparently tastes more like concord grape wine, and the white zinfandel something like peach gummy bears.
Now available at Kroger in 20 states across the country, Beringer has plans to make them accessible nationwide. [Wine Searcher][Photo: Flickr/Thos Ballantyne]