Red Robin Introduces New Wine Milkshake

Casual food chain Red Robin has announced the release of a brand new take on vino: the wine milkshake. Wine aficionados everywhere may be scratching their heads at the curious concoction – officially dubbed the “Mango Moscato Wine Shake” – but it appears there is a market for this new creation.

“For a mom to enjoy a wine shake with a burger is reasonable – and fun,” Denny Marie Post, Red Robin’s chief marketing officer, told USA Today. “It won’t be one of our highest-selling items, but there will be people who love it.”

Fun or frightening?
While lovers of the popular wine varietal may hail the idea of a moscato-based shake as genius, some groups have voiced their concern over the adult beverage’s arguably juvenile undertones.

“It’s alcohol on training wheels,” Bruce Lee Livingston, executive director of Alcohol Justice, told the source. “It’s an attempt to get a younger market drinking.”

Though the restaurant chain has gotten some pushback on the grown-up treat, it will be listed on Red Robin’s menu under the heading “Adults Only Boozy Shakes.” Red Robin also serves a variety of beers to its adult patrons, making the addition of an alcoholic beverage nothing new.

Concerned parents and non-drinkers aren’t the only ones side-eyeing the shake: Wine lovers are also concerned. The beverage has spurred headlines like Mary Beth Quirk for Consumerist’s “Red Robin’s Wine & Vodka Milkshake: Because Who Needs To Be Classy These Days, Anyway?”

So what’s in a wine milkshake, anyway?
Red Robin’s new beverage will feature moscato, vodka, ice cream and various fruit flavors – a sweet drink-lover’s dream. But as wine milkshakes are a brand-new conception, only time will tell where the boundaries lie when it comes to recipe creation. Students of culinary schools online will want to experiment with their favorite sweet wines, fruits and ice cream flavors to find the perfect combination of ingredients.