Is The Viral Chicken Wine Worth The Hype?
How do you get your alcoholic product to go viral? You can opt for smart marketing, a la Whispering Angel, which promoted itself to a 65% market share according to Forbes, to the ire of wine experts and enthusiasts desperately trying to spread the word that other rosés were available. Or you can be like Guinness, in which a centuries-long commitment to quality control and cultural iconography has led to the perennial old-man pint becoming the beer of choice among those under thirty. Or, you can just put an image of a chicken on the front of your bottle.
La Vieille Ferme Rosé, commonly referred to as the “Chicken Wine”, has become Gen-Z’s favourite choice purely by accident. No, it’s not because there’s a chicken in the branding, but its reverence does seem purely organic: There’s no gimmickry, its hype has seemingly stemmed from a genuine appreciation for its bullseye-like precision in the Venn diagram of affordability and quality. It costs £8:50 from any supermarket (up from when you could find a bottle for £6-7 before Covid) and, out of nowhere, is suddenly ubiquitous.
But what is it? Well, it’s not new. It comes from Famille Perrin – who also produce Brad Pitt‘s Rosé Miraval, for better or worse – a winery in Provence, which has been producing the wine for 40 years. Like Tina Turner, Morgan Freeman, and Vincent Van Gogh, after years of great work away from the spotlight, it’s only hit the mainstream late in life.
Like Tina Turner,Morgan Freeman, and Vincent Van Gogh, after years of great work away from the spotlight, it’s only hit the mainstream late in life.
“Winefluencer” Tom Gibley – who recently completed the London marathon while drinking a glass of wine after each mile – named it the best rosé under £10, and the genius of the product lies thus: If you’ve managed to position yourself as the premiere budget option for a product of which it’s generally accepted the luxury versions have a negligible benefit, you’ve captured the whole market.
What we thought
Of course, we had to try it ourselves in The Handbook office. Among the team, some were early adopters who already considered it their go-to wine of choice. Others, the less wine-savvy, had not heard of it and thought it included literal traces of chicken. Universally, we agreed it was fresh, light, and fruity without being too sweet and dangerously drinkable. We say it’s worth the unexpected hype.
Universally, we agreed it was fresh, light, and fruity without being too sweet and dangerously drinkable.
An important question we can’t answer: how bad a hangover does it give you? Whispering Angel is notoriously rough. Well, we have more wine to drink to be 100% sure, but so far we’ve woken up with clear heads…
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