Blue Nun

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This article is about the wine brand. For the Franciscan nun, see Maria de Agreda.

Blue Nun is a brand of German wine launched in 1927. The label was designed as a consumer-friendly alternative to the innumerable German wine labels with Gothic script and long, complicated names. In addition, Blue Nun was advertised as a wine that could be drunk throughout a meal, thereby eliminating the often intimidating problem of wine and food pairing. The wine was at this time a Liebfraumilch.

After World war II, the brand became spectacularly popular in the United Kingdom and the United States, selling for the same price as a second growth red Bordeaux wine. At its peak of popularity in 1984-1985, annual sales the United States were 1.25 million cases, with another 750,000 cases sold elsewhere.

The brand's popularity declined with changing tastes and when it became the drink of choice of fictional DJ, Alan Partridge ^{[citation needed]}. In the webcomic Achewood it was described as 'the wine so bad it made the news.' However, sales increased after Blue Nun was purchased by the German family firm Langguth which bought the brand, along with the owning firm, Sichel, in 1996. They repositioned and reengineered the brand, upgrading it from a Liebfraumilch to a QbA, changing the grapes from Müller-Thurgau to 30% riesling, and making it less sweet. It remains relatively low in alcohol at 9.5%.

Langguth also introduced other wines under the Blue Nun name, including a German ice wine, a Languedoc merlot and a Spanish rosé. 2004 sales rose by 11% in the UK, but from a low base.