Popcorn a treat for gourmets with money

A New York popcorn-making company has teamed up with Kiwi winemakers Kim Crawford to create wine-flavoured popcorn.

You may have thought a glass of vino with your popcorn was the height of class at the cinema snack bar, but a product using Kiwi wine has gone a big step further - combining the two.

Winemaker Kim Crawford has paired its brand with a US gourmet popcorn company to make pinot noir- and sauvignon blanc-flavoured popcorn.

New York-based Populence's new Pinot Noir Chocolate Drizzle and Sauvignon Blanc Kettle brands are infused with flavours of the familiar Kiwi wines, but at this stage there are no plans to bring the product to New Zealand.

The fancy novelty is non-alcoholic, GM-free and, unsurprisingly, has a hefty price tag - US$28 ($36) a tin.

Kim Crawford marketing spokesman Nila Vermiglio told Britain's Daily Mail Populence had done a "fantastic job of capturing the wines' notes".

"The lemony Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Lemon is bright and zesty, bursting with flavour and pairing beautifully with the wine, while the indulgent Kim Crawford Pinot Noir Chocolate Drizzle uses the classic pairing of wine with chocolate to harness the wine's flavours into an indulgent treat."

One of the newspaper's reviewers described the popcorn as tasting not like wine, but cherry chocolate-covered salted popcorn and lemon-infused candied popcorn.

Another wrote: "The lemon zest in the kettle corn was delicious, but too overpowering to detect any taste of wine."