Alexandre Abellan
The idea of Winabis was born with the development of wines really flavored with cannabis (in the states where its recreational use is allowed)
Emerald green, the Winabis reproduces the aromatic palette of cannabis smoke. Without providing the same psychoactive effects. Presented on ProWein, the cuvée is officially launched.
If there are wines that smell of sulfur, others smell smoke. Presented for the first time in the wine industry at the ProWein trade show (in Düsseldorf), the Winabis cuvée is appealing for its blend of wine and cannabis. Without immediately going into a firecracker, the taster notes first in his glass the bright green color of Winabis, then his strong smell of cannabis, which is not found in the mouth. “It’s a double taste. On the nose, we have a reproduction of the smell of a joint (thanks to tests carried out with smokers), on the palate we have the wine (the verdejo grape variety) “explains Rowdy Lohmuller, the export manager of the Spanish winery Santa Margarita (120 hectares).
Flavored wine-based drink, the Winabis is perfectly legal explains its Spanish producer. The industrial hemp used to give Winabis its odor has concentrations of cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) less than 0.2%, which is perfectly regulatory (as recalled the interministerial mission of fight against drugs and addictive behavior ).
Drinking Winabis does not provide the euphoric effects of cannabis. But when it comes to what parts of hemp are used, or how that emerald green color is obtained, Rowdy Lohmuller explains that “like Coca Cola, we do not reveal our secrets and manufacturing recipes.” At most, he slips menthol is added to stabilize the product.
10-15 € / bottle
Having been presented since November 2018 in salons specialized in the cultivation of cannabis, Winabis is officially launched on the European market during the German trade fair ProWein. With a selling price of between 10 and 15 euros, the first 60,000 bottles produced have already been sold, announcing the Santa Margarita winery, mainly in the Nordic markets (Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands …), but also on the internet (via the Amazon online store). “I’m dying to find someone who is open to the idea of marketing our product in France” says Rowdy Lohmuller.
If critics of Winabis believe it is a marketing weed, Rowdy Lohmuller sees a new category in grass to interest the wines of consumers who feel excluded from its culture. “We do not compare to wine, our idea is to open new markets. By giving new consumers the urge to try wine, “Rowdy Lohmuller explains. Who supports this idea on the previous colorful wines of the bodega.
After launching a “blue wine” in 2016 (Passion Blue Chardonnay, marketed at 500 000 bottles per year according to the bodega), Santa Margarita has also launched colorful wines in orange and pink. What to fire more than a guardian of the temple of wine.
*: “Double taste” is the subtitle of the vintage Winabis, which also displays the enigmatic “4:20”, a reference to movements for the legalization of cannabis.
Legal in France, this label is careful to represent the entirety of a cannabis leaf (which is the case of an alternative label).