In the ‘60s and ‘70s, the contents of a man’s office cellaret would say just as much about him as his penny loafers. A peppery scotch was as vital to the Wall Street office suites as a stapler, especially when it came to closing a deal. While that same liquor cabinet is still meaningful to the offices of today, the contents have evolved. In fact, it may not even be a liquor cabinet at all. Now, it could very well be a wine cooler. Some classics are locked in the canon of important alcoholic beverages, but where there once was a brandy, there may now sit a celebratory rosé. Back in the day, it was a laughably flimsy drink. Never would it be used to lock in a client because Rosé was synonymous with cheap. Today, it’s ‘rosé all day’ and the drink is increasingly important in matters of business.
Boomers may have a hard time imaging locking in a client with a bottle of rosé, but it’s pretty common. And, the offices they are imagining are not the ones we see today. For one, there’s a soaring number of female executives in traditional offices. And, females historically have had a more intimate relationship with rosé. However, pure sales numbers and growth rates would suggest that this is not due to a woman’s love for the drink. In fact, according to Fortune, one distributer noted a 300% increase in sales from 2015 to 2016 alone, and that number continues to grow exponentially across many distributors. Additionally, as more millennials begin to acquire modern jobs, the term ‘office’ has gotten loose. To an influencer or social media manager, the office could mean a Soho House or a showroom where wine would be appropriate. His/her business meeting may not require a lunch break or a conference room.
People are beginning to realize the frivolous reputation of rosé had more to do with a masculine fear of the color pink than it did taste or quality. As it turns out, businessmen and businesswomen alike can enjoy delicious hints of citrus or melon. Rosé is not a type of wine as much as it’s a shade. As wine experts began to detect the world’s growing taste for rosé, more respectable brands began to bottle it. Furthermore, the labels on bottles of rosé began to carry an air of chic that it hadn’t before, and the prices rose. Today, the public perception is that rosé is synonymous with class.
The popularity of rosé in business settings, lunches, launches, and meetings is of course due to a plethora of factors ranging from trends, social media, and an increase in quality over the years. As we begin to see the world through rose-colored glasses, wine glasses to be exact, we also begin to accept pink wine is a matter of grays rather than black and white. It’s not cheap vs. sophisticated, women vs. men, or parties vs. office settings. Like anything else that takes on a life of its own, the quality of rosé has come down to many factors such as dryness, color, and region. Quality rosé should be taken as seriously as a client meeting and as celebratory as closing the deal.
Interested in some rosé? Check out this gorgeous bottle of Jules Rosé.