RTD: Thank you for joining us, Victoria. We're excited to learn more about you and your brand. Please tell our readers more about yourself and Roseade Spritzer wine cocktails.
VA: I am a native New Yorker who has called Southern California home for the past 20+ years. My husband, Karl Ziegler and I are veterans of the wine and spirits industry and wine-geeks at heart as well as certified sommeliers.
We co-founded Roseade USA and launched it in 2021. Roseade Spritzer is a unique and refreshing wine-based spritzer made with top-notch Rose wine and fresh lemonade. Made with 100% all-natural ingredients, Roseade Spritzer is 8% ABV, low sugar and calories, and gluten free.
RTD: Having a background in wine must have been helpful in starting a new wine cocktail brand. But in such a competitive space with countless options from which consumers can choose, what are some things that set Roseade apart from the competition?
VA: Roseade Spritzers’ bright pink cans and Lenny the Lemon logo stand out on the shelf, are fun, and draw consumers in. We always use 100% all-natural premium ingredients that you can taste – we are obsessed with quality and taste.
Our flavor profile is “more tart than sweet” which makes it super refreshing and are full-flavor. We have found many RTD’s are sugary sweet or on the opposite end of the spectrum, have little flavor. We are a pleasing 8% ABV but are only 140 calories and 5 grams of sugar.
The Unwitting Creation Of A Canned Wine Spritzer
RTD: Wine was already competitive, and the ready-to-drink cocktail space even more so these days. What moved you to jump in to such a hyper-competitive space?
VA: It was never something we sought out to do. Roseade Spritzer “discovered” my husband on Instagram in 2018 when he posted a picture of some wines he had purchased and #rose. The person who created Roseade Spritzer was following the #rose and liked his post. When my husband saw the logo and learned that it was Rose wine and lemonade, he “DM’d” the page and the journey began. Samples were sent, we tasted it and just absolutely loved it.
Karl and I just knew we needed to build this brand and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to build something of our own. We jumped in with both feet – not knowing what we didn’t know! We had both built brands for other people’s companies many times but we quickly learned that owning a brand and building it from the ground up is a completely different story.
RTD: Being discovered must have expedited things somewhat, but bringing a brand across oceans surely can't be quick or easy. What challenges did you face with Roseade along the way?
VA: Where do I begin…there have been so many challenges beginning with the loss of our co-founder Lee Smallman to cancer in 2023. Pretty quickly after we launched the brand, we realized that we were going to need to move production from Australia to the U.S. to keep up with production needs and improve consistency and quality.
Production was under our co-founders control, but when he became ill, Karl was forced to pick up the reins and really learn production on the fly. Our first co-packer was not a good partner and we ended up losing our first production run of 50k cans that we had personally funded. We could have gone out of business then and there.
Fundraising was also completely foreign to us so the entire process of preparing investment decks and seeking out investors was a learning curve. We are sales and marketing professionals – the finance side of the business was, again, something we learned by doing it, making mistakes, and asking for advice and guidance from other founders, investors, and business leaders.
Surviving The Ready-To-Drink Wine Cocktail Business Can Be A Struggle
RTD: Sounds like baptism by fire turned out to be a survival strategy as well as a strength. Overcoming that adversity is impressive in and of itself, but beyond that, what else would you consider some of Roseade’s greatest triumphs?
VA: Surviving the early production struggles and enduring would be the first triumph! We do not see failure as an option. We know we have an incredible brand and a product that has a distinct point of differentiation. The feedback we receive from consumers at events and activations fuels our fire and reinforces our belief in the brand, even when we faced with potentially business-ending challenges. It reminds us and reinforces that we have something special.
Our early sales-driven triumphs were getting distribution in all BevMo’s, Go Puff and Raleys Supermarkets and having multiple distributors pursue us to represent the brand. Our more recent triumphs have been the successful launch of our two new sku’s in 2025 – Roseade Pineapple Lemonade Spritzer and a variety pack that includes our new Roseade Strawberry Lemonade Spritzer. We also created a 750ml bottle that we see as a great vehicle into brunch-focused restaurants where bottles on ice are preferred to cans.
Lastly, getting distribution in 150 Safeway locations in Northern California was a game changer and allowed us to create Nielsen data through driving velocity. That authorization was a game changer and is helping us fuel more distribution like getting our three skus into all Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions in SoCal this fall as well as 150 Ralph’s locations.
RTD: Those are some remarkable victories, all things considered. Did you have any mentors in the RTD industry that helped you overcome those early challenges that arose?
VA: I wouldn’t say we have had any mentors in the RTD space specifically, but we have had many people in the larger wine and spirits industry who have given generously of their time and knowledge, helped us expand our network and supported us in so many meaningful ways. The founder community, for the most part, is a very generous and supportive community and that makes such a difference in what can be, a really lonely pursuit.
RTD: Now that we know a bit more about you and Roseade, tell us what excites you the most about the RTD industry right now?
VA: The emergence of the “4th category” is super exciting. Being a part of what is a really new movement that is embracing a new cultural moment is exciting. The RTD community is shaking things up and innovation is something that we thrive on.
Wine Based Cocktails And The Future Of Ready-To-Drink Alcohol
RTD: And with that said, what kinds of trends or future innovations do you see occurring withing the ready-to-drink cocktail category?
VA: Wine cocktails are one of the highest growth categories right now in wine and spirits. I see that trend continuing to grow as it provides a great access point for “Gen Z” & the “I Generation” an unpretentious and and fun way to learn about wine. It also offers the benefits that many consumers are seeking: lower ABV, premium ingredients, better-for-you options vs those made with malt and/or artificial ingredients.
Buy Roseade Canned Wine Spritzers
RTD: What advice would you give yourself about the RTD business if you could go back in time?
VA: Make sure you have a point of differentiation. The RTD space is highly competitive, and the big corporate players still own a lot of that RTD real estate at retail. I think we have really benefitted by being as unique as we are in both our formulation and packaging. The other piece of advice would be to find a production consultant prior to launching. Someone who can help advise about the potential pitfalls as there are many.
RTD: Would you do anything differently if you were starting Roseade today with the knowledge you now have?
VA: Raise more money prior to launching! Fundraising is critical from the outset. Producing an RTD has enormous upfront costs and you need to have product to sell product!
RTD: And what do you feel the future holds for the RTD industry?
VA: I think the 4th category (ready-to-drink cocktails) is here to stay. It has become the go-to way of packaging beverages. There is so much innovation happening in this category and every day we see more and more exciting drinks being developed with exciting new packaging ideas.
RTD: And Roseade? What do things look like moving forward for you and the brand?
VA: We are super excited about the future of Roseade Spritzer. We tripled our sales in 2025 and 2026 is going to be a landmark year for growth that will push us well past the million dollar mark with all of the new chain distribution we have on the horizon. 2026 will be about driving velocity, continuing to get sips-to-lips, and broadening our audience. We have ideas for innovation that will open new channels of business as well.
RTD: Thank you for talking with us today, Victoria. We always appreciate learning more about different RTD brands like yours and we know our readers do, too.
You can learn more about Roseade Spritzer ready-to-drink wine cocktails by visiting their website at www.roseadeusa.com
