{"id":964240,"date":"2026-05-16T14:01:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T14:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/964240\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T14:01:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T14:01:19","slug":"retro-drink-from-the-70s-some-say-was-cringe-is-now-becoming-cool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/964240\/","title":{"rendered":"Retro drink from the 70s some say was \u2018cringe\u2019 is now becoming cool"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"Friends
\n\t\tIt\u2019s no longer just a 1970s relic (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s play a game\u2026 Ready? <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s your first clue: Which 1970s<\/a> wine<\/a> sold two bottles every three seconds in its heyday? That\u2019s a whopping 23 million bottles a year, for those struggling with the math.<\/p>\n

Time for your next clue: It\u2019s Portuguese, comes in a squat bottle, looks orangey-crimson in colour and tastes slightly spritzy. Any guesses?<\/p>\n

If you said Mateus Ros\u00e9, you\u2019d be correct. But you\u2019re also showing your age.<\/p>\n

The pink drink<\/a> has long been considered a relic that never really escaped its decade, at least, until now. It seems the brand is currently experiencing an \u2018it\u2019s so naff, it\u2019s cool again\u2019 moment.<\/p>\n

So if you\u2019re still sipping this effervescent icon of a drink, you may just be at the cutting edge of life again.\u00a0Though if you\u2019re also still drinking Babycham, there\u2019s very little I can do to help you.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Robertson
\n\t\tThe wine from the 70s is having a moment (Picture: Robertson Buckhaven)
\nWhat happened to Mateus Ros\u00e9?<\/p>\n

Created in 1942 by Fernando Van Zeller Guedes, Mateus Ros\u00e9 was aimed squarely at the US market, since Europe was basically blocked off by war.<\/p>\n

It was very much of the moment, even the wine\u2019s distinctive bottle was modelled on the shape of a First World War soldier\u2019s water flask, which gave it immediate shelf-standout.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re curious about the building on the label, it\u2019s Mateus Palace, or Pal\u00e1cio de Mateus in Portugal. It wasn\u2019t made there; they just liked the look of it. <\/p>\n

The owners famously accepted a one-off payment for use of the image, instead of royalties. They must be kicking themselves now. It\u2019s widely regarded as one of the biggest branding blunders of all time, given the wine has now sold over a billion bottles worldwide.<\/p>\n

By the 1970s, Mateus wasn\u2019t just big; it was arguably the world\u2019s first wine brand. In the US alone, it was selling 48 million bottles a year. <\/p>\n

By 1978, Mateus accounted for around 40% of all Portuguese wine exports. That\u2019s because Britain and America were nowhere near where they are now in terms of being mass wine-drinking nations. <\/p>\n

They couldn\u2019t tell one end of a bottle of plonk from another, let alone get their head around the complexity of, say, French wine. <\/p>\n

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Mateus offered something simple to understand, slightly sweet, lower in alcohol and easy to guzzle. It gave continental vibes, without being overly intimidating. Plus, with a curvy bottle, it looked a bit exotic, giving a bit of a chic Mediterranean moment.<\/p>\n

And just like that, Mateus had made it into the zeitgeist. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"Mateus
\n\t\tYou\u2019ll want to turn this into fros\u00e9 (Picture: Tesco)<\/p>\n

So popular did it become that it was once requested by Queen Elizabeth II, who was dissatisfied with the wine selection at the Savoy Hotel when attending a private party \u2013 the local manager had to send out for a bottle.<\/p>\n

Jimi Hendrix was also photographed drinking it out of the bottle, and it was namechecked by Elton John<\/a> in his 1973 track, Social Disease: \u2018I get juiced on Mateus just to hang loose.\u2019<\/p>\n

But as we know, anything fashionable must eventually become naff, especially where wine snobbery is involved. <\/p>\n

By the 1980s and 90s, tastes had moved towards much drier, more serious wines. Sweetness became associated with unsophisticated drinkers, and if your mum drank Mateus, there\u2019s no way on earth you would.<\/p>\n

Then Provence ros\u00e9 arrived on the scene, with its barely-there, salmon colour, bone-dry style and minimalist packaging. It represented the yacht-life, a rarified world that was tough to gain entry to \u2013 especially if you were caught sipping something as woefully dated as Mateus Ros\u00e9.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAre you glad to see Mateus making a comeback?<\/p>\n