West and Wilder is a young, vibrant winery from California, and you can now purchase a three-pack of their delectable rosé in a can exclusively at the LCBO.
Co-founders—and longtime Sonoma friends—Matt Allan and Kenny Rochford started the company around four years ago after realizing they were no longer having fun working with wine. They noticed that craft beer companies were taking extreme liberties with their cans, while also embracing sustainability.
“We wanted to create a purpose-driven business with a focus in caring for the great outdoors. We figured we could bring together our extensive wine knowledge, and blend that with some creativity and sustainability to make wine fun again," Rochford says.
Inspired by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest regions, like California, Oregon and Washington, West and Wilder comes from the travels of an artist and illustrator in the 1800s, who hiked around the West coast documenting and sketching the natural botanicals. The drawings on the can are pulled directly from their book, The Wild Flowers of California, and celebrates the land with which the wine comes from.
As lovers of dry, refreshing, and bright wines, Allan and Rochford set out to create a line of high-quality, non-vintage wine that would incorporate fruit, a little bit of acidity and minimal sugar. Their rosé is currently the only varietal available in Canada, but is a perfect reflection of their style: it’s bright, crisp, clean and incredibly refreshing. With a core blend made up of Sonoma County Pinot Noir, old vine Mendocino Carignane and Lodi Zinfandel, this wine is light, but with plenty of savoury depth, and structure.
The companies goal is to dissipate the stigma that wine can only be enjoyed if poured from a glass bottle. Not only does producing canned wine mean it can be enjoyed practically anywhere, but 70 per cent of the aluminum used is later reused with no degradation. The cans are also perfectly portioned; each 250 ml can measures at 8.4 oz., which is two small glasses of wine, or one third of a bottle.
“We're demystifying the experience by packaging three cans in one pack. It's a 750 ml bottle of great wine that happens to come in three cans. That way, if you want to indulge in some bubbles alone, you don’t have to feel guilty about popping a bottle," says Rochford.
"The can sizes promote responsible drinking and preserve the wine's freshness. They’re light, durable and easy to ship. We can ship twice as much at the same footprint, which is massive when you consider getting wine from California to Toronto."
The brand has big plans for their future in Canada; currently, they have partnered with Evergreen to donate $0.25 from every can purchased at the LCBO to Evergreen Brickworks and Toronto’s Ravines. They will soon be expanding their products into more provinces, where they will pinpoint other regions and public parks that would benefit from donation.
West and Wilder will continue to bring the rest of their wine portfolio up north, starting with their Sparkling White, which should be hitting the shelves at the LCBO sometime later this summer. Follow along their wine can journey on Instagram, where they will be posting about giveaways, product drops, and the release of their exciting new brand venture, coming soon.
