Canopy Management Wine Company Introduces Middle Sister Sweet and Sassy Moscato

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Oct 20, 2010, 03:30 ET

NAPA, Calif., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Move over girls, there's a new sister in town. Canopy Management Wine Company has introduced the newest Middle Sister wine. Called Sweet & Sassy Moscato, the wine was crowd-sourced by followers of the Wine Sisterhood, Canopy's 10,000+ member digital community dedicated to conversations and consumer research about the world of wine.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101020/SF85646)

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20101020/SF85646)

Says Canopy founder and CMO Terry Wheatley:

"We noticed Moscato's growing popularity and polled our Wine Sisterhood to see if they would be interested in purchasing a Middle Sister varietal Moscato. They overwhelmingly voted in favor of a Middle Sister Moscato and also selected the name 'Sweet and Sassy'."

Canopy Management is the first wine company to use social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and Zoomerang to directly enlist its core consumer base in the creation of new wines.

Middle Sister Sweet and Sassy is the latest wine varietal to join the Middle Sister family of wines, a 100K plus brand available nationally which launched in 2008. Each Middle Sister wine has a unique name and personality. Rebel Red is a blend of Zinfandel, Cab and Merlot. Wicked White mixes Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Gewurztraminer. There's also Drama Queen Pinot Grigio, Smarty Pants Chardonnay, Forever Cool Merlot, Mischief Maker Cabernet Sauvignon, Goodie Two Shoes Pinot Noir, and Surfer Chick Sauvignon Blanc.

Middle Sister Sweet and Sassy is premium California Moscato. The wine is the sweetest in the Middle Sister portfolio with 4% residual sugar, 12% alcohol and crisp acidity for a light and refreshing taste.

Middle Sister Sweet and Sassy Moscato, the first Middle Sister of Color, debuted recently at the Blogalicious Weekend in Miami Beach, Florida, a conference dedicated to celebrating female voices of diversity in the blogosphere.

Explains Terry Wheatley:

"The Wine Sisterhood believes wine should taste good, be a fair value, and make life more enjoyable for anybody who chooses to partake. Before we launched Sweet and Sassy Moscato, we brought her picture across the country and asked women of all backgrounds and ethnicities what they thought of her. Our wine sisters unanimously agreed that is was important to recognize the diversity of women who love wine. That's why we have made a sister of color the face of our new wine. "

Another innovation is the addition of a QR code on the back label. A QR (quick response) Code is a matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smart phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data. The QR code on the back label of Middle Sister Sweet and Sassy Moscato links to a fact sheet with detailed information about the wine, including technical data and food pairings.

Middle Sister wines support charities which help women and families through their "Help A Sister Out" campaign. A portion of the sales of Middle Sister wines go to Dress for Success, a non-profit organization that provides interview suits, career counseling and economic empowerment to low-income women in over 75 cities worldwide.