Will wine in a can ever be commonly accepted?
Drinking from a can reduces some of the ceremony and tradition that comes with wine drinking, but that may not necessarily be a bad thing. Craft breweries have been able to maintain their brand and perceived quality while switching to the less-pretentious can, and it certainly reduces their environmental footprint as well. It's been proven that the can does not impact the taste of the wine (see link below), so the only real potential change would be on where and how wine is sold, and how it's consumed.
In addition to lowering the barrier of formality and fear of drinking wine inappropriately, the can form makes wine easier to transport, store in stacks, and drink on the go. One could see sports stadiums being interested in serving wine in a less labor-intensive form; it might allow them to stock additional varietals for sports fans, as well. Personally, the biggest appeal of wine in a can is that it regulates the portion to something I'm more comfortable drinking. It would make it easier to enjoy both white and red wine over the course of a meal, without wasting, too.
The LA Times did their review of the 10 best wines in cans, which I plan on trying!
A sampling of wines sold in cans: A guide to some wines in cans. Look for them at your favorite wine shop or grocery. And if they're not there now, they're coming soon. Guaranteed.
2013 Field Recordings Fiction Red (500 ml can, about $10) A quirky Zinfandel-based blend from winemaker Andrew Jones that also includes Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Tempranillo and Touriga Nacional. The lusty Fiction Red tastes of dark berries, smoke and forest.
2014 Field Recordings Fiction Pinot Gris (500 ml can, about $8) Aromatic white of mostly Pinot Gris with a small amount of Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Malvasia Bianca. Fruity, with some mineral notes and good texture.
2014 Field Recordings Fiction Rosé (500 ml can, about $8) Not a wimpy rosé, this one is fruity and lush, tasting of raspberries, strawberries and rose petals. Made from 70% Grenache, with 20% Cinsault and 10% Black Muscat.
2014 Alloy Wine Works Central Coast Pinot Noir (500 ml can, $7.50) From the same producer as Fiction, this Central Coast Pinot Noir is easy drinking, bursting with fruit, tasting of sweet spices and red cherries.
2014 Alloy Wine Works Central Coast Grenache Rosé (500 ml can, $7.50) A lively rosé that layers the tastes of red fruit (strawberry, cherries) with herbal notes.
2014 Underwood Pinot Noir (375 ml, about $6) Light, pleasant Oregon Pinot Noir tasting of raspberries and cherries, with smooth tannins. Just what you want for a picnic wine on a summer day or to drink with a sandwich or salad Niçoise.
2014 Underwood Pinot Gris Willamette Valley (375 ml can, about $6) This basic summer white, with its notes of citrus and pear, can go anywhere. Drink it on its own or with a tuna sandwich, some fried clams or peel 'n' eat shrimp.
2014 Underwood Rosé Wine (375 ml can, about $6) A dry Oregon rose to take on the go just about anywhere: the beach, a hike or the deck outside.
NV Francis Ford Coppola Sofia Blanc de Blancs (187 ml can, $4; four-pack, $12) A California sparkling wine made from a blend of 70% Pinot Blanc, 20% Sauvignon Blanc and 10% Muscat packaged in girlie pink in diminutive cans. Each can comes with a straw.
Source: http://www.latimes.com/food/drinks/la-fo-winecan-20150912-story.html
I totally agree with you about the pros / cons of wine in a can here. While I wouldn't want to switch to drinking wine from a can 100% of the time, I think there's definitely a time and a place for it. For example, I think wine in a can works well in very casual settings that are often associated with drinking beer (such as sports events, at the beach, casual gatherings of large groups). I also think that certain varietals such as rose or sauvignon blanc lend themselves better to the can format. Bigger reds like Cabernet Sauvignon wouldn't work as well because they generally need to age in the bottle and the can format doesn't allow for aging. I also can't imagine drinking anything more expensive (say $20+ per bottle) out of a can - I think that if you're paying that much per bottle you should get the full, more romantic experience of pouring from a bottle. I've had Underwood's wine in a can format and its pretty good: http://unionwinecompany.com/our-wines/underwood/can/ - they have an interesting "pinkiesdown marketing campaign for their wine and are rebelling a bit from wine's more serious, oftentimes pretentious reputation
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the disadvantages of cans are over the single-serve glass technology that the Copa di Vino company sells (the one that was on Shark Tank). When they pitched their system, I assumed that there was some fairly fundamental reason why you couldn't put wine in cans. But the LA Times article indicates that isn't true. If the Copa di Vino's advantage is just avoiding the aesthetic incongruity of drinking wine out a can, you'd think the Copa di Vino technology would be completely displaced by cans. The company is reportedly doing pretty well, though.
ReplyDeleteI can't help quoting The Accidental Connoisseur here, when Osborne talks about the difference between corks and screwtops: "Wine is becoming more kid-friendly as it comes to resemble bottled soda [...] What was always appealing about corks was that they were difficult to extract, and therefore beyond the ken of children. There was effort, the risk of failure, a little ritual. But maybe modern taste is increasingly the taste of children [...] Childish relationships, childish entertainments, and now, at last, childish wine" (197). This ties into his larger argument that as American taste comes to dominate the world market, wines are becoming overall simpler (which ties into our earlier discussion about the traditional vs. new-school barolos, or how more Bordeaux wineries are adding increasing amounts of Merlot to their wines, with the result that they're all tasting similar.)
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried enough global wines, especially more recent vs. older wines, to know whether this trend toward "childish wine" is a reality. But if it is, canned wine is totally symptomatic of it! As is the juice-box wine we used to serve at my sorority's chapter meetings in undergrad... http://banditwines.com/wines