Drinking through a straw
posted by philip in Wine Industry, Wine
First it’s the screw cap, then box wine, now it’s wine in clear plastic bottles. As packaging progresses it may make the wine look, dare I say it… more common, but its generally cheaper, preserves the wine more efficiently and is kinder to the environment (either recyclable, or less heavy and so burns up less fuel while being shipped around the globe). Much of the innovation comes from down under, where the eco-minded Australians and New Zealanders drink 50% of their wine from boxes. Long shipping routes also force them into a more progressive mindset - abandoning natural cork from Portugual and looking for lighter packaging.
The latest is wine sold in tiny cardboard boxes with a straw - think of a child’s juice box. At the moment its being trialled in a few EU markets, so it remains to be seen if it will spread to the rest of the world. In the UK, bastion of the ‘liquid lunch’, the wine is being marketing for ‘drinking on the go’. I cant wait to see that same positioning used in the United States.
To make up for the inability to swirl one’s juice box of wine, the straw (and I’m not 100% sure of the visual here) has five holes so the wine gets sprayed into your mouth, releasing the full aroma. Drop us a line if you see any in your local store.
Listen. I’m all for saving the environment. Clean air? Sure, count me in. But if it comes down to me drinking wine out of a quasi juice box with a straw (let alone a straw with 5 holes?)… surf’s up!
What’s the name? Winey Wine?
My suspicion is that the single-serving juice-box style wines will irk some parents groups because currently juice boxes are typically for children. But that being said, I’m all for reducing the total environmental footprint of wine. I’m always surprised when I look at just how much packaging it takes to get the wine to my glass (it’s even more when I order online), and that doesn’t even factor in the fuel used for shipping!