Coppola's Canned Champers

[moosnsqrl]

I tried it last season and I think you're being generous, Chezcherie. I thought it much worse that you would expect -- one sip and straight into the recycling bin. Why would they put their name on it?

[Eden]

actually if you pour it out of the can into a glass much of the can flavor goes away. we bought some for a gag gift...

edited to clarify: pouring it into a glass does NOT make it good in my opinion, just less canny.

Edited December 11, 2005 by Eden (log)

[CtznCane]

I find what they come up with to be uncanny at times.

[JohnL]

The Washington Post puts Cali canned sparkling wine (one assumes that any French Champagne firm proposing such an outrage would be seized by the government and its graped crushed fo vinegar) on the front page of the Style secion.

Ladies, you're being blamed for this one.

"Sacre bleu ! But who would sip bubbly from an aluminum can? Those who would eat filet mignon from ze paper plate, no? View the Mona Lisa through ze sunglasses?

Ahhh, perhaps Americans. Perhaps American chicks. That was what vintners at Niebaum-Coppola Winery were betting in that moment of can-do innovation when, thinking outside the bottle, they came up with the idea of selling champagne in a can."

The website is here.  Flipping through it confirmed for me that this whole idea is actually as unfortunate as it sounds.

←

I wonder if we are being a bit "snobbish" here.

There seems to be an assumption that wine needs to be in a glass bottle.

The real test would be if we took the wine from a bottle and tasted it blind vs the same wine from a can--I doubt many of us would be able to tell the difference (mainly because I am certain that Coppola has already done this test).

so

If the wine does not taste differently? Then what is the import of the bottle?

Especially when one could make the case that sparkling wine from a can offers many benefits. The piece linked offers these benefits up--easier to drink on the beach, poolside, lighter more portable, no need for a glass.

The beverage can compete vs beer etc.

What is wrong with any of that?

Second there is a an assumption that Europeans are more "sophisticated" than us Americans when it comes to wine.

In fact, Europeans have long viewed wine as a simple beverage to enjoy with food and in various everyday situations. In some areas of France one can go to a winery and fill up their own container (whatever they choose to bring/utilize) with wine from a large steel tank via a hose.

Doesn't sound very sophisticated to me.

Boxed wine has been accepted throughout Europe (it is growing here as well). That is wine in a box containing a plastic bladder. Not just everyday wine either but some rather "higher end" stuff.

I currently have sitting on my kitchen counter a bottle of premium ($29.95), New Zealand Pinot Noir--with a screw top-- that is reputed to be quite good (I'll post a tasting note when I have had a chance to open it up).

What we are seeing is the demystification of wine. As we accept wine as a beverage to be enjoyed in more and more situations--at the beach or poolside for eg--the wine industry will find more ways to make wine easier and more accessible to enjoy.

The jury is still out as to the impact of boxes and screw tops and aluminum cans on the ageing of wine--I can say that anyone who is cellering fine wines would gladly trade the ceremony and mystique of pulling a cork for the security that their Chateau Latour is not ruined by a tainted cork.

Much of the world's wine is, in fact, held, vinified and even aged in large stainless steel vats or tanks prior to bottling. In fact, most of the world's sparkling wines go from steel tanks into glass bottles. So really, what's the big deal if that wine goes from a metal container into another metal container? Would simple inexpensive sparkling wine suffer a decline in quality or ill effects? Or would our love affair with tradition and ceremony be bruised?

The winemakers have pretty much answered the first question and the sales of boxed, canned, screw topped wines are answering the second.

In the end, its not the container but the contents that are important--if the container offers some advantages without harming the contents then I am all for it.

Let's also not ignore the importance of tradition--we need that too-- it enhances the enjoyment of life--but let's apply tradition to wines deserving of it--I am not calling for Krug in a can but some Cava or prosecco or Coppola sparkling wine? what's the big deal?

Edited December 12, 2005 by JohnL (log)