Searching for Hard Seltzer, Cider, or Wine Under $15? Aldi Just Dropped All of the Above

If you’re headed outdoors this summer, Aldi might not be your first impulse for patio drinks and beach seltzers. But the affordable grocery chain is looking to change that, and it’s dropping a lineup of brand-new summer drinks to prove it. 

Aldi just introduced 11 new limited-edition drinks for the summer, a brand representative tells Food & Wine. From a budget-friendly Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc to a citrusy lemon radler, the grocery chain has something to suit everyone’s taste in the latest drop. The new lineup is joined by 14 returning seasonal beverages, which means Aldi will have a total of 25 alcoholic beverage choices that are tailored to suit your summer needs. 

All of the new products will be priced at less than $15 and will only stick around while supplies last, as Aldi’s director of national buying for adult beverages, Arlin Zajmi, tells Food & Wine. The most affordable item is the Zarita Frozen Cocktail Pouches, which cost just $1.89 each, and on the highest end of the lineup is a boxed wine, the TeraBox Pinot Grigio, for $14.99. 

This year, the company is investing in jammy fruit flavors and ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails. As the RTD space has expanded rapidly throughout the past several years — Zajmi says RTD sales for Aldi grew by 40% in the past year — consumers are searching for even more cost-effective, pre-packaged cocktails. To adjust to those tastes, Zajmi notes that Aldi has tripled its RTD offerings in the past five years. 

The director of buying also says that expanding to include so much drink variety works well with Aldi’s low-cost approach. “If you’ve never tried a new flavor, varietal, or beer item, it’s easier to spend five or six dollars rather than 20 or 30 dollars on a new product,” Zajmi explains. “So it’s more approachable and easy to try.” 

As the new beverages roll out to stores this week, the Aldi team gave us an early preview of the drinks it’s particularly excited about.

Fieldcraft Fruited Seltzers

Aldi is taking inspiration from its already popular hard seltzer, Vista Bay, for its punchiest new seltzer line. The brand notes that the new drinks will include 15% to 30% real fruit. 

“The consumer is asking for more: more flavor, different alcohol levels, exotic flavor profiles, and just more taste,” Zajmi says. “So based on that feedback, we developed a new brand called Fieldcraft that delivers on all of that.” 

These bubbly beverages are available in two flavors, White Peach Strawberry and Mango Dragonfruit, for $8 and $9 respectively.

Wernesgrüner Lemon Radler

Radlers combine the qualities of hard seltzer and beer in one lemonade-like drink, which Zajmi describes as something close to “refreshing light beer or hard seltzer.” 

Typically, this style of drink features a blend of beer and citrus soda. Aldi’s version is a light, citrus-forward beer with a very mild 2% alcohol by volume (ABV), which means it would be ideal for sipping all afternoon on a hot summer day.

Wicked Grove Blueberry Hard Cider

Aldi is keeping the fruit theme going with this flavored hard cider, which is a limited-edition spin on its top-selling Wicked Grove line. In comparison to some other fruit-forward hard ciders, this one is subtle and balanced in its approach to incorporating blueberry notes. It’s priced at $9 for six 12-ounce cans. 

Zarita Pink Lemonade Cocktail

The delicately hued Zarita Pink Lemonade Cocktail serves as the brand’s response to bottled cocktails. Notably, this version is wine-based — which likely allows the retailer to sell it in a wider variety of locations — and sits at 14.9% ABV.

Specially Selected Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc

This classic white wine is described as bright and citrusy with notes of green apple. And at just under $11 for a bottle, Zajmi describes it as an “exceptional value.” As he explains, Aldi works directly with winemakers to develop the Sauvignon Blanc and produce it at scale for a lower cost. The brand “cuts out all the extra middlemen and the extra costs,” which translates to a lower price on the bottle.