UK: Watermelon wine, anyone? Sweeter, fruit-flavoured plonk set to be best-seller among younger drinkers

(DailyMail) - Fruit-flavoured wines are set for a major boost on supermarket shelves, according to a new report yesterday.

Younger Britons have fuelled a boom in fruit-flavoured beers and now the wine industry is attempting to entice the drinkers to its sector using the same methods.

Accolade Wines is to roll out 'fruit-fusion' wines -- grape-based drinks enhanced with fruit extracts -- under its Echo Falls brand. It has already devised a lemongrass, mint and aloe flavour, with more to come, including watermelon.

Targeting a new generation of wine consumers was one of the biggest challenges facing the wine industry, according to Accolade general manager Paul Schaafsma, who added that the growth of cider had made it harder to attract new wine drinkers to the category.

And while you might be forgiven for thinking all wine was intrinsically 'fruit flavoured' - being made from grapes - the new types of wine will have a much sweeter and more distinctive taste of many different fruits.

He told trade magazine The Grocer: 'If enhanced fruit-flavour drinks have worked in the beer and cider categories, we should look at this for wine.

'This will help the wine category be relevant to consumers at the start of their wine journey. "

Chris Wisson, of market analysts Mintel said that fruit-style wines have proved popular in France and the potential in the UK was 'huge.'

He told the magazine: 'Bringing wine into direct competition with fruit-flavoured ciders is a good move.'

The Grocer said that Enotria launched its first fruit-flavoured wine last September and will be rolling them out to a multiple retailers this summer.