Coming soon: 'Son of wine cooler.'.(wine coolers)

Wineries expect sweetened drinks to be summer chiller

Just when you thought wine coolers could safely be relegated to '80s nostalgia, wine makers are putting their newest incarnation on store shelves.

The fruit-flavored, wine-spiked beverages are making a comeback as vintners find themselves faced with an abundant supply of cheap bulk wine. St. Helena's Sutter Home, Modesto's Gallo and Ceres-based Franzia are rolling out the new beverages, with visions of the early 1980s, when wine coolers accounted for 21 percent of all wine shipments.

The mostly uncarbonated, fruit-flavored products typically have more wine than the wine coolers of yore, but are …