Cape Classics launched Jam Jar Moscato, a white varietal complement to the company’s Sweet Shiraz wine.

In response to the growing popularity of Moscato wines, Ricossa Antica Casa launched a sparkling red wine made in the village of Casorzo, Italy, that offers consumers similar characteristics as white Moscato wine.

Constellation Brands launched its first sweet, semi-sparkling Moscato Bianco from Ruffino.

In response to increasing demand among younger, urban drinkers for wines with a sweeter flavor profile, Adler Fels Winery launched Totally Random Peach.

Phusion Projects LLC launched Moskato Life, a flavored malt beverage with a taste profile similar to Moscato wine, the company says.

Exclusiv Rosé Vodka is a hybrid beverage imported into the United States by Serge Imports.

During the 52 weeks ending Nov. 10, 2012, the sparkling wine category increased 4.6 percent in dollar sales, said Danny Brager, vice president of beverage and alcohol for Chicago-based market research firm Nielsen, in a Dec. 31 blog post.

“It can be intimidating to walk down that wine aisle,” says Danny Brager, vice president of beverage alcohol for Nielsen, New York. “There are so many items, sometimes it’s difficult to navigate down the aisle because you just see this sea of bottles.”

Wine sales in the United States from all production sources increased 2 percent from the previous year to a new record of 360.1 million 9-liter cases with an estimated retail value of $34.6 billion, according to Wine Industry Consultant Jon Fredrikson of Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates, Woodside, Calif. Of this total, almost two-thirds or 207.7 million cases of California wine account for a 58 percent share of U.S. wine sales with an estimated retail value of $22 billion, he says. Including exports, California wine shipments to all markets in the United States and abroad reached 250.2 million cases in 2012, he says.