(SFChronicle) - Canned wine is at a crossroads.

Once written off as a passing fad, canned wine now looks poised to become a permanent fixture of the wine shelf. By mid-2016 its meteoric popularity was apparent, with annual sales reaching $14.5 million according to analytics firm Nielsen — a 125 percent year-over-year increase. This fall canned wine sales were up another 60 percent.

You don’t even need to look at the data. Just look around. Colorful cans of frizzante and chillable reds are everywhere: at the beach, at the music festival, at restaurants like Wise Sons. Seems like every week I learn of a new brand, often from respected producers of glass-bottled wine. What once felt like a crazy novelty — is it even possible for wine in a can to taste good? — now feels like a given. Yes, of course it can.