(USAToday) - It's never too late to crack open a can of chardonnay.

This summer, millions of wine drinkers ditched corks and slipped a can of wine in to-go bags. Canned wine is a booming, if relatively new, sector of the wine business in the USA. Nielsen reported a whopping 125.2% increase in sales of canned wine alone in the past year. Sales went up to $14.5 million from $6.4 million the previous year.

A new study featured in Wine Spectator from the Texas Wine Marketing Institute found in a small focus group of wine drinkers, followed by a national poll of 21- to 39-year-olds, canned wine "generally had the highest overall perceptions of (wine) quality based on the packaging."

The trend is new, but the idea is not: Sofia Mini blanc de blancs have long been served in diminutive pink cans (straw sweetly glued to the side), and Trader Joe’s has sold canned wine since 2009.

The concept is finally fermenting. No longer relegated to eye rolls at the supermarket, Millennials and wine drinkers on the go have made four-packs of wine a must-pack for hiking, camping and beach trips.

“I like that it looks fun and a bit tacky, but when you try it, the wine is actually great,” says Jeffrey Masters, 27, host of the podcast LGBTQ&A, which premieres on iTunes in September. “Each can is half a bottle, so they’re deceptively small.”

It doesn’t hurt that vintners are starting to uncork the good stuff.