Wine cooler

During their peak in the mid-late 1980s they made up 20 percent of all wine sold in the United States, before fading in the 1990s due to heavy excise tax rises on wines.

[1][2] In Germany, wine coolers became popular in 2004, when the German government imposed an extra duty on alcopops (pre-mixed spirits) of 0.80 to 0.90 euro per bottle, effective 1 August 2004.

To circumvent higher taxation, some German producers have switched to wine coolers, which are being marketed in the same way as alcopops.

[citation needed] Wine (15-17% ABV) contains 2.4-2.7 times more water than 40% distilled spirit.

Typically includes 3–7% fruit juice is added to the wine to dilute the ABV, and this solution can be carbonated with a soda machine to make alcopop, after which soft drink syrup is added, which lowers the ABV further.