# Cheerwine
**Cheerwine** is a cherry-flavored, burgundy-colored soft drink created in 1917 in [Salisbury, North Carolina](https://www.edgepedia.org/salisbury-north-carolina), by L.D. Peeler and still produced there by the family-owned Carolina Beverage Corporation. Despite the name, it contains no alcohol or wine; the company explains that the name comes from the soda's burgundy red color and cherry taste.[1](https://cheerwine.com/faq/) It is a wild cherry soda rather than a cola, and it has been a Southern regional favorite for more than a century.[2](https://www.axios.com/local/charlotte/2023/02/13/cheerwine-and-noda-brewing-create-cheerwine-ale-320818)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Created | 1917 in Salisbury, North Carolina, by L.D. Peeler, amid a World War I sugar shortage[3](https://cheerwine.com/about/) |
| Name | "Cheer" for its cheerful, bubbly character and "wine" for its burgundy red color; no alcohol content[3](https://cheerwine.com/about/) • [1](https://cheerwine.com/faq/) |
| Maker | Carolina Beverage Corporation, described by the company as the oldest continuing soft drink run by the same family[3](https://cheerwine.com/about/) |
| Nutrition | 12 oz serving: 150 calories, 42 g sugar, 25 mg sodium; 3.94 mg of caffeine per ounce[4](https://cheerwine.com/nutrition-info/) |
| Sweeteners | Cane sugar in glass bottles; high-fructose corn syrup in cans and plastic bottles[5](https://www.eater.com/2017/3/23/14950304/cheerwine-history) • [4](https://cheerwine.com/nutrition-info/) |
| Barbecue link | Official soft drink of the National Barbecue & Grilling Association; the company calls the pairing a "Southern handshake"[6](https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/90131-cheerwine-celebrates-100-years-of-success) • [5](https://www.eater.com/2017/3/23/14950304/cheerwine-history) |
| Distribution | Available in all 50 states through distribution agreements, sometimes with rival PepsiCo, though availability varies widely[7](https://businessnc.com/cheerwine-is-100/) |
## Origins
The drink traces to 1913, when Peeler acquired the franchise for Mint Cola to be its local bottler in [Salisbury](https://www.edgepedia.org/salisbury). When World War I and the resulting sugar shortage put Mint Cola out of business, Peeler faced a choice between leaving the soft drink industry or reinventing himself, and he began experimenting with flavors.[6](https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/90131-cheerwine-celebrates-100-years-of-success) His objective was a product with sweetness that used less sugar, achieved through flavoring rather than sugar content.[6](https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/90131-cheerwine-celebrates-100-years-of-success) According to the company's own history, a salesman from St. Louis sold Peeler a wild cherry flavor that blended well with other flavors, and with the taste settled, the burgundy-red color and cheery disposition made the name "Cheerwine" the obvious choice.[3](https://cheerwine.com/about/)
When the Mint Cola parent company went bankrupt in 1917, Peeler and his partners bought their Salisbury bottling operation and reorganized it as the Carolina Beverage Corporation.[8](https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2016/01/27/salisburys-cheerwine-favorite-across-piedmont) The company was renamed the Piedmont Cheerwine Bottling Company in 1924 to build brand recognition across North Carolina, and Peeler registered the Cheerwine trademark in 1926.[8](https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2016/01/27/salisburys-cheerwine-favorite-across-piedmont) Peeler died in 1931, and his son Clifford took over, keeping the company afloat and profitable through the [Depression](https://www.edgepedia.org/depression).[3](https://cheerwine.com/about/)
The original slogan, "For health and pleasure," dated from an era when sodas were named for what they resembled, like root beer or ginger ale, and when temperance sentiment made a nonalcoholic drink styled after wine commercially appealing.[8](https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2016/01/27/salisburys-cheerwine-favorite-across-piedmont) • [9](https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/cheerwine-soda-cherry) Cheerwine is often described as the first American bottled cherry soda, predating Cherry Coke and Wild Cherry Pepsi by decades.[9](https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/cheerwine-soda-cherry) • [5](https://www.eater.com/2017/3/23/14950304/cheerwine-history)
## Flavor
The dominant note is wild cherry, described by tasters as darker and less syrupy than cherry colas. The writer Emma Baccellieri characterizes the cherry as a little subtler and closer to black cherry, fruit-forward without being overly sweet.[10](https://www.soda-fountain.com/p/in-praise-of-the-regional-soda) The North Carolina chef [Vivian Howard](https://www.edgepedia.org/vivian-howard) told Eater in 2017 that it has "a depth of flavor with this cherry beginning and a root-y ending, almost like a cross between Cherry Coke and Dr Pepper."[10](https://www.soda-fountain.com/p/in-praise-of-the-regional-soda) The restaurant critic Alan Richman wrote in 2006 that its flavor is "a little like Dr Pepper with cherry syrup stirred in."[5](https://www.eater.com/2017/3/23/14950304/cheerwine-history)
Unlike Cherry Coke or Cherry Pepsi, which are colas with cherry syrup added, Cheerwine has no underlying cola flavor; cherry is the base rather than a layer on top.[11](https://eathealthy365.com/cheerwines-unique-flavor-profile-a-deep-dive/) Fans also single out its carbonation. J. Kenji Lopez-Alt of Serious Eats calls it "an extra big jolt of bubbliness," and Joy Harper, the company's marketing director and Peeler's great-great granddaughter, describes a "sparkling" quality that is "not foamy like other soft drinks."[5](https://www.eater.com/2017/3/23/14950304/cheerwine-history) The company's own history calls it a cherry soda "with a bubbly effervescence."[3](https://cheerwine.com/about/)
## Company and production
Carolina Beverage Corporation remains privately held and run by Peeler's descendants; Cliff Ritchie, a great-grandson of the founder, has led the company since the 1990s, and no outside company has held an ownership stake.[12](https://legalclarity.org/who-owns-cheerwine-still-private-and-family-owned/) • [3](https://cheerwine.com/about/) The company owns the trademark and manufactures the concentrate in Salisbury, while a Charlotte bottling facility operating as Independent Beverage Corp. supplies distributors within a 300-mile radius; that 450,000-square-foot plant runs five bottling lines, with can lines reaching up to 1,100 cans per minute.[7](https://businessnc.com/cheerwine-is-100/) • [13](https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/84233-bottling-cheerwine)
The formula has stayed essentially the same for a century, with one alteration: canned and plastic-bottled regular Cheerwine use high-fructose corn syrup, while the 12-ounce glass bottles carry the cane-sugar version.[6](https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/90131-cheerwine-celebrates-100-years-of-success) • [5](https://www.eater.com/2017/3/23/14950304/cheerwine-history) A 12 oz serving contains 150 calories and 42 g of added sugar, and both regular and Zero Sugar varieties contain 3.94 mg of caffeine per ounce.[4](https://cheerwine.com/nutrition-info/)
## Varieties and collaborations
A diet version has been part of the lineup for decades, though sources place its launch differently: Beverage Industry reports Diet Cheerwine launched in 1969,[6](https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/90131-cheerwine-celebrates-100-years-of-success) while the company's own timeline says it launched at the beginning of the 1970s.[14](https://cheerwine.com/wp-content/uploads/Cheerwine_timeline.pdf) The company has since renamed it Cheerwine Zero Sugar, sweetened with a sucralose blend, and says it has produced the zero-calorie soda for over 40 years.[1](https://cheerwine.com/faq/) Cheerwine Squeeze, a permanent variety blending Cheerwine with lemon-lime and orange, launched in 2015, and Cheerwine Holiday Punch has been released each fourth quarter since 2014.[6](https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/90131-cheerwine-celebrates-100-years-of-success)
Collaborations have tied the brand to other North Carolina companies. [Krispy Kreme](https://www.edgepedia.org/krispy-kreme) offered a Cheerwine doughnut in 2010, and in 2016 the companies released Cheerwine Kreme, a soda blending Cheerwine flavor with a hint of Krispy Kreme's Original Glazed doughnut.[6](https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/90131-cheerwine-celebrates-100-years-of-success) • [15](https://time.com/4414465/brace-yourself-for-the-new-krispy-kreme-flavored-soda/) [Food Lion](https://www.edgepedia.org/food-lion), the Salisbury-based grocery chain, has sold Cheerwine ice cream, and a Cheerwine barbecue sauce is distributed locally.[6](https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/90131-cheerwine-celebrates-100-years-of-success) In February 2023, Cheerwine and Charlotte's NoDa Brewing Company launched Cheerwine Ale, a 5.2% ABV wheat ale sold in 16 oz four-packs across the Carolinas.[2](https://www.axios.com/local/charlotte/2023/02/13/cheerwine-and-noda-brewing-create-cheerwine-ale-320818)
## Cheerwine and barbecue
North Carolinians hold Cheerwine up as the best beverage to pair with barbecue, a sweet foil to both the vinegar-based sauce served with smoked pork shoulder in the eastern part of the state and the ketchup-based sauce dominant in the west.[5](https://www.eater.com/2017/3/23/14950304/cheerwine-history) Harper says barbecue restaurants have been serving Cheerwine since the very beginning, a pairing the company calls a "Southern handshake."[5](https://www.eater.com/2017/3/23/14950304/cheerwine-history) The pitmaster [Sam Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-jones), known for whole-hog barbecue at the Skylight Inn in Ayden and Sam Jones BBQ in Winterville, serves it on tap and in glass bottles at his restaurants, where it is his best-selling drink after Pepsi.[5](https://www.eater.com/2017/3/23/14950304/cheerwine-history) The drink is also the official soft drink of the National Barbecue & Grilling Association.[6](https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/90131-cheerwine-celebrates-100-years-of-success)
It has entered the kitchen as well as the dining room. Recipes online run from Cheerwine cobbler to a Cheerwine sangria by [Alton Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/alton-brown), and the soda appears in barbecue sauces, desserts, and cocktails such as bourbon-Cheerwine slushes.[5](https://www.eater.com/2017/3/23/14950304/cheerwine-history) The company sells a concentrated Cheerwine syrup intended for baking and other uses.[4](https://cheerwine.com/nutrition-info/)
## Distribution and growth
For most of its history Cheerwine stayed close to home. For many years it was available only in western North Carolina, where it remains enormously popular; expansion into neighboring states began in 1981, and in January 2003 it reached Europe for the first time through a licensing agreement with a bottler in Norway.[16](https://www.ncpedia.org/culture/food/cheerwine) Cliff Ritchie recalled that as late as the early 1970s Cheerwine could not be bought in Raleigh, with Burlington the farthest east it was sold.[17](https://www.ourstate.com/history-of-cheerwine/)
Growth accelerated in the 2010s. Regular Cheerwine grew 15 percent in 2016, the company's best year to that point, even as the broader carbonated soft drink category struggled.[6](https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/90131-cheerwine-celebrates-100-years-of-success) Expansion into new markets has relied on franchise bottlers, the craft-soda appeal of the cane-sugar glass bottle, and fountain service, which accounts for 30 percent of the company's business.[6](https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/90131-cheerwine-celebrates-100-years-of-success) Today, through distribution agreements sometimes made with rival PepsiCo, the soda can be found in all 50 states, though availability varies widely by market.[7](https://businessnc.com/cheerwine-is-100/)
The centennial in 2017 brought a celebration in downtown Salisbury that became the annual Cheerwine Festival, which the company says has drawn crowds of more than 60,000 people to the city's Main Street.[14](https://cheerwine.com/wp-content/uploads/Cheerwine_timeline.pdf) The brand's fan culture, from bottlecap earrings to Cheerwine tacos and slushies, is part of how the company explains its continued growth in a shrinking category.[18](https://www.wbtv.com/2026/05/13/cheerwines-century-old-legacy-carolinas/)
## References
1. [Does Cheerwine Have Caffeine? and Other Cheerwine FAQs, Cheerwine](https://cheerwine.com/faq/)
2. [Cheerwine and NoDa Brewing create Cheerwine Ale, Axios Charlotte (2023)](https://www.axios.com/local/charlotte/2023/02/13/cheerwine-and-noda-brewing-create-cheerwine-ale-320818)
3. [The Story Behind the South's Favorite Cherry Flavored Soda, Cheerwine](https://cheerwine.com/about/)
4. [Cheerwine Nutrition Facts and Cheerwine Ingredients, Cheerwine](https://cheerwine.com/nutrition-info/)
5. [A Brief History of Cheerwine, Eater (2017)](https://www.eater.com/2017/3/23/14950304/cheerwine-history)
6. [Cheerwine celebrates 100 years of success, Beverage Industry (2017)](https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/90131-cheerwine-celebrates-100-years-of-success)
7. [Cheerwine is 100, Business North Carolina (2017)](https://businessnc.com/cheerwine-is-100/)
8. [Salisbury's Cheerwine, A Favorite Across the Piedmont, NC DNCR (2016)](https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2016/01/27/salisburys-cheerwine-favorite-across-piedmont)
9. [Cheerwine, Gastro Obscura, Atlas Obscura](https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/cheerwine-soda-cherry)
10. [In Praise of the Regional Soda, Soda Fountain (2023)](https://www.soda-fountain.com/p/in-praise-of-the-regional-soda)
11. [What Does Cheerwine Taste Like? The Definitive Guide, Eat Healthy 365](https://eathealthy365.com/cheerwines-unique-flavor-profile-a-deep-dive/)
12. [Who Owns Cheerwine? Still Private and Family-Owned, LegalClarity](https://legalclarity.org/who-owns-cheerwine-still-private-and-family-owned/)
13. [Bottling Cheerwine, Beverage Industry](https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/84233-bottling-cheerwine)
14. [Cheerwine timeline (PDF), Cheerwine](https://cheerwine.com/wp-content/uploads/Cheerwine_timeline.pdf)
15. [Brace Yourself for the New Krispy Kreme-Flavored Soda, Time (2016)](https://time.com/4414465/brace-yourself-for-the-new-krispy-kreme-flavored-soda/)
16. [Cheerwine, NCpedia](https://www.ncpedia.org/culture/food/cheerwine)
17. [The History of Cheerwine, Our State](https://www.ourstate.com/history-of-cheerwine/)
18. [Cheerwine's century-old legacy in the Carolinas, WBTV (2026)](https://www.wbtv.com/2026/05/13/cheerwines-century-old-legacy-carolinas/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Food, customs, and everyday culture › Food, cooking and hospitality › Beverages and drink culture › Soft drinks and non-alcoholic beverages › Soft drink brands and companies*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license