Published on March 12, 2025 at 11:18 am
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Toward the start of spring, there’s nothing that visitors to BrewHound Dog Park + Bar in Neptune Beach would rather drink than water sprayed in a giant arc. On a recent Tuesday, soon after the fountain was turned on for the season, a hound named Otter was stationed on the splash pad, trying mightily to lap up every droplet upon release.
At least, that’s the case for the canines. Many of their best friends would prefer to drink wine from a can.
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BrewHound is among the state’s leading canned wine buyers, with the complex purchasing more cans of Underwood from category pioneer Union Wine Co. than any other independent outlet in Florida. While the format has lately become more popular—thanks in part to millennial and Gen Z drinkers’ inclination to drink moderately and protect the environment avidly—Florida has largely resisted the trend, according to Union Wine’s Southeast regional sales manager.
“Florida won’t even allow me to talk about cans,” says Michele Carreira Haid, who just landed her first account in the otherwise with-it West Palm Beach. Although Whole Foods Market stocks cans from the Oregon producer, which started pushing handheld wine back in 2013, Haid says most of her Florida restaurant and bar clients are loyal to “stodgy old brands”—and the glass in which their wines are bottled.
By contrast, BrewHound cleared 40 cases of canned Underwood wine in January. That works out to almost 1,000 cans of white bubbles, pink bubbles, pinot gris, and pinot noir. Even more impressively, Haid points out: “It was freezing.”
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Union Wine Co.’s founder is adamant that the quality and reliability of canned wine, which is immune to light damage, oxidation, and cork taint, means it’s suitable for settings that wouldn’t be described as outdoorsy. Still, hikers and boaters remain among the format’s biggest enthusiasts. Not surprisingly, Haid reports, she’s had little trouble selling canned wine in North Carolina.
As a result, when she joined Union in 2023, Haid sized up Florida’s beaches, outdoor concert venues and sporting events, and concluded, “Cans must be rocking it in Florida.” Two years later, she’s revised her assessment.
“We’re probably the worst state in the country when it came to canned wine,” she said.
Don’t blame BrewHound. While there weren’t any dog owners throwing back sparkling wine when I visited the park at 8:30 a.m., barista Damon Francisco anticipated fielding his first canned wine request of the day within two hours. “I can’t speak for everyone, but it starts early,” he confirmed.
The bar at BrewHound also serves draft beer, hard seltzer, mimosas and alcoholic slushies (on the weekends), as well as coffee and snacks, but Francisco says canned wine has two main advantages over everything else on offer. First, Francisco considers the cans among BrewHound’s best deals, since they’re priced at $9 apiece. If a pooch’s companion wanted the same amount of wine from the tap, it would cost $13.
Second, and most importantly, Francisco says, canned wine never changes. He wasn’t referring to the aforementioned degradation that worries winemakers. He meant that Underwood consistently issues the same four varietals, while BrewHound is always switching up the other wines and beers on its drinks list.
“Even though we carry a lot of great stuff, that’s a plus for people who are creatures of habit,” he said.
Because BrewHound’s customers are people who habitually bring their creatures to the park every day, usually at the same time, that’s a major point in canned wine’s favor.
Even so, Francisco said few humans order canned wine when they first visit BrewHound. Nervous about their socially anxious dogs getting scared or their rowdy pups behaving badly enough to court ejection by a so-named “Ruffaree,” newbies stick to lower-investment beverages. But once “people know their dogs are good for an hour,” they’re much more comfortable settling into a firepit seat with a pinot gris in hand.
In other states, that wouldn’t seem so shocking. According to Wine Spectator, annual canned wine sales nationwide surged between 2012 and 2020 from $2 million to $183.6 million. Industry experts predict the category will continue to grow, with yearly sales projected to more than double by 2030.
But in Florida, it’s BrewHound that’s out front.
“I wouldn’t think of Jacksonville as the new trendy hotspot, but I guess it is the new trendy hotspot,” Haid said.
Stella and Peanut and Cleo and Colt could have told her as much.
This story is published under a partnership with The Food Section.
