Experience a Taste of the West Coast with West + Wilder Canned Wine

West + Wilder makes canned wine beverages and their Rosé can now be purchased at the LCBO! Their Rosé is a dry, refreshing and bright Pinot Noir blend that is full of berry fruit flavours, fresh acidity and is low in sugar.

The founders, Kenneth Rochford and Matthew Allan, originally met in 2005 while working at a winery together and have remained close friends ever since. After wanting a change of employment scenery, they decided to start their own entrepreneurial journey and launched West + Wilder in Santa Rosa, California in November 2017. 

Prior to starting West + Wilder, Kenneth and Matthew found themselves enjoying a lot of craft beer for reasons you may not expect.

“The cans were beautiful and they were making beer fun, so we asked ourselves, why isn’t the wine world doing more of that?” Kenneth said. “We wanted to dispel the myths about there being a right and wrong way to consume wine and simplify wine drinking to the notion of; do you like it and would you like some more?”

Their goal was to veer away from creating a product that would solely become a tradeable and collectable commodity, but rather, produce something that can be put on the table and ignite conversation. Or in Matthew’s words, they wanted to “produce something very accessible, high quality, and sustainable from the start.”

With that being said, their three pillars are Quality, Convenience and Responsibility. When it comes to Quality, they chose non-vintage wines meaning their beverages are always ready to enjoy immediately. They also can their products several times a year in order to guarantee freshness with every sip.

In terms of Convenience, each can is 8.4 oz which is equivalent to two small glasses of wine or a third of a bottle. Their 3 can packs also make them very easy to transport.

The Responsibility element directly relates to the name “West + Wilder.”

“Our products are a type of West Coast celebration but we also support wild spaces and parks because these areas are underappreciated in the USA, so we combined the wild component with the idea of being based on the West Coast,” Kenneth explained.

In order to support natural spaces, they are partnered with 1% for the Plant, meaning 1% goes towards preserving wild areas and the native species within them, such as the botanicals illustrated on their cans. Their cans are also made of aluminium, which is one of the world’s most recycled materials.

West + Wilder sells five different types of canned wine: Rosé, White, Sparkling Rosé, Sparkling White and Red. Although the LCBO only carries their Rosé at this time, their Sparking White will be appearing on the shelves in August.

More recently, Kenneth and Matthew have taken their canned beverage journey another step forward by launching Mosey Wine. Be sure to follow them in order to stay on top of any new Mosey-related information!