The Big Interview: Kylie Minogue

Having launched her wine range in 2020 to huge acclaim, Kylie Minogue is now releasing an alcohol-free pink fizz.

It’s been a busy couple of years for Kylie Minogue. The last time the drinks business caught up with the pop princess, in June 2020, she had just launched her first rosé in the midst of lockdown.

Now Kylie Minogue Wines has grown into a successful eight-strong range, with a presence in 21 countries and off-trade sales of £21.6 million a year. The singer has sold over seven million bottles of wine around the world, with someone snapping up a bottle every seven seconds. According to Paul Schaafsma of Benchmark Drinks – the mastermind behind the brand – Kylie’s Prosecco Rosé and Signature Rosé are the top-selling pinks in the UK in their field. The speed and scale of the range’s success is nothing short of staggering, but Kylie, who last year relocated from London to her hometown of Melbourne, Australia, seems to be taking it all in her stride. “I take all of those stats with a pinch of salt,” she says. “We’re doing well enough to keep going, and have really bedded in now. We got off to a great start, which is not something I expected would happen as I was dipping my toe into a new field. We planted the seed of the idea and the little seedlings are growing, but we really have to tend the plot now and nurture what we’ve got.”

SUPPORTIVE REACTION

Having launched with a Vin de France Rosé, the Kylie Minogue Wines range now includes a Prosecco Rosé, Margaret River Chardonnay, Yarra Valley Pinot, and a Côtes de Provence Cru Classé Rosé made in collaboration with Château Sainte Roseline.

Despite the brand’s stonking success, Minogue was wary of how her foray into the wine world would be received. “I was quite nervous about entering the industry, as I didn’t want to upset anyone, or for anyone to feel like I was gatecrashing, but people have been very supportive of me and the range,” she says.

While some celebrities have little more involvement in their drinks brands than adding their name to the label, Minogue puts in the hard yards, and will be brightening the aisles at ProWein in Düsseldorf next year, where she’ll be taking a stand in the French hall.

Keen to create an inclusive wine brand that doesn’t leave anyone out of the conversation, and spotting a gap in the market, the singer ’s latest release is a 0%-ABV sparkling rosé, which she hopes will ride the wave of the current ‘nolo’ boom sweeping the globe. Coming in at just 22 calories per 100ml, Kylie’s Alcohol Free Rosé launched in October at 700 Tesco stores in the UK, priced at £7 a bottle, and will be rolled out at Morrisons and Sainsbury’s in time for Dry January. “The interest in and desire for a high-quality non-alcoholic wine was becoming increasingly evident,” she says. “I’d had a lot of messages from younger fans and fans that don’t drink who wanted to be part of the KMW family, so I wanted to explore whether an alcohol-free wine was something we could do, not quite understanding how difficult that would be to achieve.”

The decision to create a sparkling rosé in the nolo space was obvious. “The biggest hits for us have been rosé, and it became apparent during the R&D process that it would be easier to create a like-for-like non-alcoholic wine if we went down the sparkling route, so we set out to make something people would enjoy that gave them the flavour sensation of wine without the alcohol.”

Taking around 20 iterations to get right, Minogue reveals it was the most challenging wine in her range to create. “The mid-palate can sometimes be missing in alcohol-free wines, which are often too sweet, and I couldn’t put my name to that. We did a tasting in New York and it wasn’t quite there, so we dialed down the sweetness a bit to a level I was happy with. Tasting it in bottle for the first time was an exciting moment. I was a bit nervous; I’m not going to lie. We had it at breakfast with croissants, which was the perfect way to enjoy it.” The sparkler looks set to feature prominently at the Minogue family Christmas in Australia this year. “I’ll definitely be drinking it on Boxing Day, and my nephews might want to feel grown up and have a glass on Christmas Day. I’ve got a gig in Dubai on New Year ’s Eve, so it will be on my rider for that too. It works for so many drinking occasions, whether you’re sobercurious, doing Dry January, or just fancy a night off.”

The sparkler’s booze-free status makes it a shoo-in for dry countries where alcohol is banned, and Schaafsma has already been approached by two major Middle Eastern airlines to stock it on board.

Seeking to elevate zero-ABV serves, Minogue wanted the fizz to feel like as much of a treat as an alcoholic sparkling wine, so those who buy it don’t feel like they’re being shortchanged, or are missing out on the sense of occasion. “I want people to drink it in their best Champagne glasses,” she says. “You get to pop the cork and the colour is gorgeous, so it still feels utterly celebratory. With all of the wines in my range and all of my shows, I value people’s time and their experience of one of my products. Be it a song, a wine, or coming to see a show, I really care about the end result, and didn’t want this to feel like an afterthought – I wanted people to be able to join the party.”

To that end, the packaging of the 0% fizz is as premium as her pink Prosecco, as is the level of detail, from the signed cork and pale pink cage to the silver neck foil, so nothing is taken away from the ritual of the sparkling wine experience. Making a splash in the fast-growing ‘nolo’ category is a savvy move. According to a 2022 IWSR study, the sector has a global retail sales value of just under US$10 billion (£8.3bn), and is forecast to have a volume compound annual growth rate of 7% between 2021 and 2026. Growth in the UK looks set to be larger, at 30% over the same period. In tandem with the explosion of the category has been a shift in consumers’ drinking habits, with mental health now the number-one driver for cutting back on booze. Interestingly, the ‘nolo’ category is seeing the biggest growth from drinkers seeking to reduce their alcohol intake by occasionally going alcohol-free – the IWSR study found that 82% of people who have tried ‘nolo’ products drink alcohol. With Millennials and Gen Z consumers prioritising their health and wellbeing, Minogue believes the stigma around not drinking has lifted. “So many of us are leaning into self-care now. I don’t think there’s a stigma around not drinking anymore, and it’s important that people who aren’t drinking have a good option where they don’t feel like they’ve got the kids’ drink at the end of the table.”

Having expanded the brand’s footprint around the globe, from Barbados to Belgium, this summer Kylie took her wines stateside through a partnership with Southern Wines & Spirits, launching the range at the Carlyle Hotel in New York with a performance at legendary live music venue, Café Carlyle. Not one to rest on her laurels, the singer has her sights firmly fixed on the future, and would love to add a Champagne to the range to complement her still French rosés. “A pink Champagne would be amazing, obviously. It’s the longest conversation Paul and I have had. We’re exploring our options right now, as it all comes down to finding the right partner,” she says.

With the world having opened up again, Kylie has been busy making up for lost time, paying visits to her partner estates, including Howard Park and De Bortoli in Australia, and Zonin in northern Italy, which produces her pink Prosecco. “It’s been great to meet the makers behind the wines and be shown their latest toys and gadgets. The more I learn about wine the more I realise there is to learn. It’s been pretty daunting at times, but I’ve been welcomed by the industry with open arms. I don’t know how long I’ll say I’m a beginner in wine, but it will be a while,” she says. “I’m reading Andrew Jefford’s new book, where he describes wine so wonderfully, and the fact that there are so many aspects to it, from history, humanity and science to nature. It’s the mystical part of wine that I’ll always be trying to grasp, but perhaps you never do, which is what makes it so fascinating.”

With celebrity wines – and particularly celebrity rosé – enjoying its moment in the sun, Minogue, who is putting the finishing touches on a new “feelgood” music album, admits there is some friendly rivalry between her and fellow singers Gary Barlow and Jon Bon Jovi for the most popular celebrity pink. Have the three of them got together to compare notes? “Not yet, but I wouldn’t mind a trip to the Hamptons,” Kylie jokes. “Jon can sing and I’ll do the harmonies.”

Kylie uncorked