The blue wine that a group of Basque students developed five years ago, hoping to find a stylish niche appear to be succeeding, even after initial legal issues over what could be called wine.
In fact, Gik Live!, which produces Gik Blue, is not allowed to call it wine in Europe, where it is labeled as an ‘alcoholic drink.’ The U.S. and some other countries allow it to be sold as wine. Although it’s mostly considered a novelty, it has inspired imitators and even a champagne-style blue cava.
Gik Live! has grown to twelve employees, and ships its product to 21 countries; production has grown from 30,000 bottles in its first year to half a million in 2017. The blue wine is made by mixing white wine, red wine and a bit of grape must. The blue color comes from two pigments modified from the skins of red grapes.
