(Forbes) - Beverage alcohol market research firm BW 166 LLC says retail wine sales in the U.S. between June 2017-June 2018 were flat at $3.3 billion. During the same period, however, sales of wine in boxes rose by 7% and sales of wine in cans jumped a whopping 43%.

It may seem like a new idea, but wine in cans in the U.S. dates back to about 1936, produced by the Acampa Winery of Lodi, California, and again in the 1950s with wine in cans produced on the West and East Coasts. But canning wine proved a small disaster, especially after wine’s acidity ate little holes in the tin, a problem that had apparently been remedied by 1980 when, operated then by Coca-Cola, the Taylor California Cellars brand released wine in short aluminum cans intended for U.S. airlines. 

One wonders whether or not 24 year-old Anish Patel knew the history of wine in cans in the U.S. when he brashly set out to market his own brand in a can, Tinto Amorio, which he bills as a low-calorie sparkling red wine cocktail with lemon. The inspiration for Tinto Amorio is the age-old Spanish Tinto de Verano (literally, red wine of summer): generally, one part red table wine and one part low-sugar, carbonated lemonade.