A wine company aims to not only be more sustainable, but also be more accessible for a younger audience.
Nomadica was created in 2017 by Kristin Olszewski, who saw a gap in the wine market. There appeared to not only be a disconnect between good, quality wine and sustainable practices, but also between wine as a whole and a new generation of alcohol consumers.
Olszewski, who has spent years as a sommelier in Michelin-star restaurants, sought to bridge these gaps through Nomadica.
“So many people feel like you need a PhD in order to access and enjoy wine or that it’s not for them. I think historically, the wine industry, particularly in the US, has spoken to a much older, more elite audience or it’s like, your mom’s chardonnay,” said Olszewski. “I wanted to make a brand that was just really inclusive and brought the young consumer back to the category.”
One main goal for Olszewski and Nomadica is to make the wine industry more approachable to a younger consumer, especially since there are so many more options available for alcohol drinkers.
“I’ll die on this hill, the wine industry has to change. I feel like in the last two years, [the wine industry has] been screaming about how wine consumption is down, and young consumers aren’t drinking wine,” said Olszewski. “I think the wine industry thinks that people will always drink wine, but today’s consumer has more options than ever before.”
Nomadica currently offers red, white, rosé, and orange wine varieties. Each variety isn’t too sweet, and the grapes are sourced from sustainable farms.
Olszewski opted to package the wine in cans (as well as boxes and kegs) rather than the traditional means of bottling the wine. Each can is labeled with art from local artists, aimed to appeal to a younger demographic.
“I was just shocked when I found out how bad glass bottles were for the environment, the majority of the carbon footprint of a bottle of wine comes from the glass bottle itself, which is atrocious,” said Olszewski. “My undergrad degree is in sustainable agriculture. That was always my entry point into wine. I particularly was always drawn to wines that were made by incredible farmers who left the earth better than when they had found it. But the fact is most wine does not need to be in a glass bottle, like it can be in a can or in a box or in a pouch and it’s still just as good.”
The wine company has caught the eye of Olympic medalist Gus Kenworthy, who teamed up with the brand to create a new wine: Nomadica’s Yuzu Rosé Spritz. The wine is made with clean ingredients such as yuzu, rosé and Muscat concentrate.
“I am kind of obsessed with Asian food and Asian flavors, and I feel like that kind of Asian citrus flavor just pairs really, really nicely with the kind of crisp, refreshing, somewhat sweetness of the rosé,” said Kenworthy.
Like Olszewski, Kenworthy wants wine to be more approachable to the younger generations, noting that Nomadica is doing a good job of being more inclusive.
“[Nomadica is] just trying to be more approachable, more accessible for a younger generation. I feel like wine is kind of stereotypically a little bit snobby and elitist and skews older, I feel like it shouldn’t be like that,” said Kenworthy. “It’s something that everybody should be able to enjoy.”
Olszewski is continuing to work to grow Nomadica, encouraging new wine drinkers to keep an eye out for tastings and seeing it in stores or online. Olszewski noted that if you don’t like the wine, you will get your money back, but even if you have no wine experience, you can dive in with Nomadica.
“Feel free to explore with reckless abandon with no stigma attached,” said Olszewski.
For more information, visit explorenomadica.com.
