Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/123973
EDITOR'S DESK Lightening Up, Branching Out Despite reports in the last couple years about U.S. wineries switching over to lighter-weight packaging, many wine bottles still have something of an obesity problem. As an occasional wine reviewer I receive samples from wineries throughout the West, and I continue to be amazed at the strength it requires to hoist some of those oversized bottles from their shipping boxes. While many consumers are attracted to the luxurious look and feel of hefty bottles (I once knew a guy who equated punt deepness to wine quality), sommeliers and retailers are less impressed. In Tim Teichgraeber's column on page 25, trade members spout off about beefy bottles, from their environmental impact to the inconvenience of trying to cram them into standard-size wine racks. Meanwhile, some vintners are going to the other extreme by skipping bottles altogether. Even bag-inbox packaging is too cumbersome for these champions of portability, the pouch revolutionaries (see the story on page 40). The new stand-up flexible pouches weigh only a few ounces more than the liquid they contain, and their builtin handles make them easy to tote to the beach, the campground or anywhere else wine lovers dare to tread. Pouches aren't for everyone or every wine, but they could become valuable ammo in the U.S. wine industry's fight for consumers' share of wallet – especially consumers of the Millennial variety. The wine-portability concept was pioneered in the United States by Francis Ford Coppola, who took the risk in 2002 of packaging his winery's Sofia sparkling wine in cans. 10 V I N E YARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | May - June 2013 Other vintners before him had tried and failed to market canned wines in this country, but Coppola's sleek pink cans defied the odds. Today Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Sonoma County sells 20,000 cases a year of Sofia-in-a-can, and Coppola plans to expand the line in 2013. (For more on that, see my story on page 46.) Coppola is also working to perfect the single-serve, plastic "Wine by the Glass" packaging it introduced in limited markets back in 2008, which was discontinued due to shelf-life issues. Director of Winemaking Corey Beck says he's confident they'll get it right this time, and we should be seeing a new-andimproved release later this year. Wine pouches have undergone similar shelf-life challenges, causing some wineries to suspend use of the packaging until the bugs are worked out. But as one pouch supplier points out, plenty of bottles exploded before Champagne producers got their packaging just right. Rather than seeing these brave new forms of packaging as competition for the tried-and-true – for which there will always be a place – I view them as inspirational evidence of the wine industry's ingenuity and innovation. Let's give consumers more reasons to drink wine, in more places and on more occasions – regardless of whether they pour it from a bottle, pouch, can or box. Salute! Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m