New CBD-infused wines from South America are to make their debut in the UK this month, adding the first Latin American flavour to this nascent category.
Named Soul Surfer, the wines hail from Uruguay, being the brainchild of Pablo Fallabrino, who has his own cannabis plantation, in line with the country’s liberal and legalised approach to the drug.
Fallabrino is described as “the wild child of Uruguayan viticulture” by Carla Bertellotti, MD of Vinos Latinos, which along with Condor Wines will distribute the wines in the UK.
Two different strains of cannabis, Sativa and Indica, are used for the white and red wines respectively, with Fallabrino having carefully chosen each for its complementary flavour profile in the wine.
Bertellotti said that the Soul Surfer label is the first CBD-infused range to be aimed at the on-trade in the UK, with independent merchants also in its sights.
“These are wines made with the aim of maximising the sensorial enjoyment of drinkers in mind. Wines ideal for food matching, for exploring the very many flavour combinations, and for that reason we feel they are particularly suited for the on-trade,” she told Harpers.
“They are the first of their kind, and there is no better winemaker than Pablo to produce these really delicious wines, with his history of crafting top class alternative wines, and his keenness in experimenting and pushing boundaries.”
Bertellotti explained that the target audience was not just the growing demand for CBD products, but people that “like to be one step ahead” as adventurous drinkers.
Fallabrino added: “I have been growing cannabis with great passion for over two decades, and I have always wanted to make a wine aromatised with its flowers’ terpenes.
“The result of these years of research are two wines, a white one aromatised with the Sativa strain of cannabis, which adds citrus flavours, and a red infused with the Indica strain, which is fruitier. The combination of the naturally occurring grape terpenes with those of the cannabis flowers creates an amazing new range of flavours and aromas.”
The wines are unfiltered and “contain the purest form of CBD extract” said Fallabrino, who apparently put in years of research in trialling the best wine and cannabis combinations.