The spritz, the mojito,the piña colada: summer drinks usually have alluring names. This year, however, hits differently. It’s all about the chicken wine.
When I first heard of chicken wine’s cult following, I had no idea what it was. Was it a health thing, like bone broth? Would we all have to make our own, or buy it at food vans from big, gentle men with tattooed faces? In fact, part of chicken wine’s appeal is that it isn’t hipster at all: it’s the nickname of the wine brand La Vieille Ferme, whose labels feature an illustration of a chicken and a rooster.
The fandom is real. Chicken wine is huge on TikTok, where users show off fridges packed with pink bottles; organise parties around it; and post themselves dancing to Charli XCX with the caption ‘Brat summer is cracking open a bottle of chicken wine to get drunk in your bedroom’ (@stephmariebooth). The glamorous staff of a PR agency in London tell me ‘our entire company is run on it’; when they get together for a bottle or five, the person doing the pouring dresses up as a chicken.
There’s also merch. On Etsy, devoted followers are selling framed prints declaring ‘just let me sip my chicken wine in peace’ and T-shirts that ask ‘Is it chicken wine time?’. Kate Gwilliam, an artist who makes sequinned ornaments of everyday items, has even designed a chicken wine charm that she will launch at the end of August. ‘I’m anticipating that they will sell pretty fast,’ she says. ‘At the moment I don’t have enough for everyone who wants one.’
So what’s the big deal about this drink? There’s no great secret: it’s just nice, and not too expensive (at my local supermarket, it’s £7.75). ‘It’s hun-coded but actually nice to drink,’ says one fan. ‘It’s the driest, palest pink in every corner shop, and cheapish without being goopy syrup. You go to the shop and you get chicken wine: job done.’
Fans compare it to Whispering Angel – which at £22, is more than twice the price. And the critics agree: Jane MacQuitty at The Times put it in her 100 top wines for this summer.
It’s created in the Southern Rhône Valley of France by the Perrin family, who really know their stuff. They’ve been operating since 1997 and make several brands of wine, including, in partnership with actor Brad Pitt, Miraval – a hot topic in his divorce from Angelina Jolie.
As it happens, celebs love to be associated with rosé; Kylie Minogue, Graham Norton, Sarah Jessica Parker and, er, Gary Barlow all have their own bottles. Yet none of them can beat this tasty sub-tenner supermarket wine. Keep your glitz and glamour: the nation wants its chicken wine. Cheers