Free Run Wines is adding a new variant to its wine-based drink, Mr Peel’s Manavista. The brand, with its new variant, will be on display at the London Wine Fair. The new variant is Pear & Elderflower, which will join the Pink Grapefruit flavour launched last year. The drinks, which are gently spritzed, have an alcohol content of 5.5% abv. The drinks are designed to…

Fruit cider is still driving growth in the cider market while pear and apple struggle, the latest Nielsen figures have revealed. The off-trade cider market grew 3.3% in the year to September 13, according to Nielsen figures in Swedish cider brand Kopparberg’s autumn report on the UK cider category. That growth was fuelled by fruit, which grew 35% to £245.7 million, boosting…

Pear brandy crafted by a group of Carthusian monks at the foothills of the Gorjanci Mountains in Slovenia is available in the UK for the first time. The Charterhouse Monastery in Pleterje is one of just 25 extant Carthusian monasteries throughout the world and has been producing the aperitif for the past 60 years. It is a brother monastery to Grand Chartreuse in France –…

Brothers Drinks has launched a tequila-flavoured cider called Perro Loco – or “mad dog” in Spanish. Perro Loco is a 5.5% abv cider cut with lemon and tequila flavour, with added agave nectar. It comes in a 33cl bottle and is recommended served with a slice of lime in the neck. Consumer marketing manager Cheryl Sheppard said: “Innovation has been the driving force behind the…

Gaymers Cider is set to relaunch with a new look and two new fruit flavours – Pear Cider with Raspberry and Pear Cider with Cherry and Apple – in June. The relaunch will be backed with a marketing campaign including festival sponsorship, digital support, PR and below-the-line activity. Marketing manager Victoria Walker said: “Following extensive research and trial we are really pleased with the results…

AB Inbev is set to launch a pear variant of its Stella Artois Cidre. Stella Artois Cidre Pear follows a successful launch for the cider’s apple variant, which sold £50 million worth in its first year and was drunk by more consumers than any other cider in the off-trade in its first year in the market, according to Kantar World Panel figures to March. It…