I’ve often looked at innovations in wine packaging on the blog. There are two reasons for this:

1. Innovations might appeal to the imagination of consumers and give them new reasons and opportunities to explore wine
2. The wine business, like all others, needs to move with the times and ‘go green(er)’
3. (and I quite like checking out new things .. oh, wait, that’s 3!)

When producers innovate with their packaging, moving away from heavy glass towards recyclable plastic or tetra-pack containers, or using new closures such as screwcaps or glass stoppers, we should applaud them for their concerns and their commitment.

But what about the effect on the wine?

Would you drink wine from a plastic bottle, can or carton?

Sample bottles

When it comes to some changes, such as the use of screwcaps instead of cork, research has already demonstrated the many potential benefits to the wine itself (in certain conditions). It has actually also helped to improve the cork business and fostered innovation there too.

However, plastic bottles are another issue, and one that has not been explored scientifically until now (that I know of).

So, why use ‘plastic’ bottles? The main arguments are:

• They are MUCH lighter, so transport costs (and therefore the ‘carbon footprint‘ of the bottle) are much reduced
• Certain plastics are less energy intensive to produce and recycle than glass
• The demand for recycled green glass is not high (in UK), so let’s focus away from it
• Usually used where wine is shipped “in bulk” to modern plants near where the wine will be bought, and not in inefficient small lots in wineries around the world
• Better from a health & safety perspective (fewer bits of broken glass)

If all else was the same, then it would seem sensible, right?

The problem, all else does not seem to be exactly the same, but until now wine experts could be accused of being ’snobbish’ about these bottles if they criticised them. However, the Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin (ISVV) in Bordeaux are conducting a long-term study on the effect of different wine containers on the same red & white wines.

The ISVV packaged the same wines in large & small bottles of glass, two types of plastic bottle (single PET and multi-layer PET) and also in a 3L Bag-in-Box. It is still early days, but there are some key and obvious results already after 12 months. If you are interested, the overview presentation is included here (but I list some key observations below)

For white wines, the cheapest and lightest plastic (single-layer PET) shows dramatic deterioration compared to glass. This is confirmed by the ISVV tasters observations and scientific analysis (and my own tasting). In fact, for the smallest bottles (187ml) the damage starts after only 3 months with oxygen levels increasing (oxidation) and the protective SO2 (sulphur dioxide) levels decreasing rapidly after 6 months. In summary, it would seem that these bottles are really not suitable for white wines for more than a few weeks, not months.

The situation is not much better for more expensive multi-layer PET or bag in box, but in any case there is a marked difference of all alternatives compared to glass.

The results are less conclusive for red wines – so far. It does look like a similar pattern will hold true, but it takes longer to be noticeable on red wines I guess.

The ISVV could not include other alternatives such as tetra-pack or wine pouches as they could not put the same wine they used in the study in these formats.

I can’t say any of these conclusions comes as a great surprise to me, but it is good to have some sort of numbers and ‘evidence’ to point to. Thinner plastic bottles that flex more are more likely to create opportunities for gasses to get in/out of the bottle, and wine is a very delicate product. Smaller bottles will suffer proportionally more as the volume of wine is smaller. A delicate white wine will suffer from oxidation faster than a more robust red.

So, should we simply stop experimenting and stick to glass?

Not at all. We need to continue to innovate and look for opportunities to make changes that will help consumers, be better for the environment and be better value for producers. However, the wine itself should not suffer.

So, next time you are shopping for wine (for example, see below for announcements by M&S), will you be tempted by the plastic bottle? What would make you try them?

Related articles by Zemanta

• M&S moves wine into plastic bottles (telegraph.co.uk)
• Greenwash Alert: What’s With The Wine In Plastic Bottles? (treehugger.com)
• Synthetic corks, screwtops stopping more wine bottles (timesunion.com)
• Marks & Spencer’s mini wine range goes a shade greener with plastic bottles (guardian.co.uk)
• What Happens When You Cellar a White? (winevoice.blogspot.com)
• Plastic Bottles for Carbon-Saving Wines (seriousaboutwine.co.za)
• Screwcap v Cork – the photographic evidence (shirazshiraz.blogspot.com)

Do you doubt the ability of Twitter to offer valuable and tangible business benefits? Then check out this little example.

I was at the Wines from Spain tasting today and I met Sarah. In fact we were already “friends” on twitter in our various alter-egos as @thirstforwine and @bottlegreenltd but had not really met in person. In any case, this twitter-enabled chat encouraged us to taste some of each others’ wines, and in the process I was asked what I thought of this label:

Knowing that such things are subjective, I thought I’d ask for wider input, so I shared the photo with twitter. Within 20 minutes, I had 15-20 responses to be able to gauge a more general view. In this case, unlike my own personal luke-warm stance, the response was overwhelmingly positive. Check out some of the reactions below (some are not included as the messages are private):

1. 
   quaffability @thirstforwine I do like. Very nicely executed. But my first reaction is that it’s vermouth, and I think that is a problem. 11 Mar 2010 from web in reply to thirstforwine
2. 
   ryanopaz @thirstforwine Love the new label…nice and retro! 11 Mar 2010 from TweetDeck in reply to thirstforwine
3. 
   wineboffin I like it. RT @thirstforwine: http://twitpic.com/17xb65 – A new ‘retro’ Rioja label. What do you think? Like? 11 Mar 2010 from TweetDeck
4. 
   JustinELLiddle @thirstforwine Like. Where did you come across that? 11 Mar 2010 from TweetDeck in reply to thirstforwine
5. 
   fmvwines @thirstforwine I think I like it 11 Mar 2010 from web in reply to thirstforwine
6. 
   ChampagneW @thirstforwine quirky! 11 Mar 2010 from web in reply to thirstforwine
7. 
   whereisjeannie @thirstforwine love it! Would buy it for the label. 11 Mar 2010 from TweetDeck in reply to thirstforwine
8. 
   joanna_h85 Love them!! RT @elliott_people: @thirstforwine – Bottlegreen are a great company, fab people and product! 11 Mar 2010 from TweetDeck
9. 
   GollyGD @thirstforwine It’s attractive, but at first glance I’d think – ooo is that Cafe Rouge’s new house wine label? 11 Mar 2010 from web in reply to thirstforwine
10. 
    7SpringsWine @thirstforwine Yes I like it, different, standoutish on the shelves, looks a bit ‘devilish’. Tim 11 Mar 2010 from TweetDeck in reply to thirstforwine
11. 
    emmab1984 @thirstforwine http://twitpic.com/17xb65 – I don’t think I like it! 11 Mar 2010 from TwitPic
12. 
    RedWhiteorPink @thirstforwine I like – very retro 11 Mar 2010 from Tweetie in reply to thirstforwine
13. 
    WineChallenge @thirstforwine Yes, we like! Very Art Deco. 11 Mar 2010 from web in reply to thirstforwine
14. 
    AlexDuran_ Fine! RT: @thirstforwine: http://twitpic.com/17xb65 – A new ‘retro’ Rioja label. What do you think? Like? 11 Mar 2010 from Echofon
15. 
    RichieWine Great label… RT @thirstforwine: http://twitpic.com/17xb65 – A new ‘retro’ Rioja label. What do you think? Like? (via @wineboffin) 11 Mar 2010 from web
16. 
    vinosity @WineChallenge @thirstforwine I would say more Nouveau than Deco, but I also like it a lot. 11 Mar 2010 from web in reply to WineChallenge
17. 
    ccarter126 Classy RT @thirstforwine: http://twitpic.com/17xb65 – A new ‘retro’ Rioja label. What do you think? Like? 11 Mar 2010 from TweetDeck

— this quote was brought to you by quoteurl

How about that for value for business? With a properly planned out strategy for getting input and feedback from fans, friends and consumers in general, twitter and other social media tools can be very useful without being complicated or time-consuming. And they can be fun too!

For some reason, probably because it is the only wine I mention available more widely in North America than here in the UK, my most popular and enduring post concerns the packaging of a wine called VOGA.

VOGA wine bottle

In the interests of giving readers a little more of what they want, I decided I’d buy a bottle when I spotted it in Canada recently, and find out a little more about it.

I’m still amazed, as I was when I wrote my last post, that this producer can make any money with what must be incredibly expensive packaging. It isn’t quite a diamond encrusted bottle, but the investment required to buy these unique bottles and add several layers of closure (see pictures below) must be awfully high.

One of the main reasons most wineries (whose margins are small compared to beer or spirits companies) use standard shapes of bottles is that they are produced in large quantities. This makes them easier to source, and cheaper – something rather important in these cost-cutting, margin-slashing times. However, clear differentiation is difficult to achieve on wine shelves so I commend them for trying.

I heard at one stage that these wines were to be available in the UK, but the importer mentioned at the time does not have them listed on their site, so I assume it fell through. My enquiries through the VOGA site remain unanswered several weeks later – not great customer service.

I don’t write tasting notes on this blog, but you can probably find some recommendations on Snooth, but the VOGA Quattro did match a spicy pork dinner well

Layers of packaging 2 & 3 (Plastic Cap, Plastic Seal & Cork)