Can you believe it? Wine in a can!
Who doesn’t enjoy a glass of wine after a long day in the office? or even 2 or 3 on a Friday night?
Sometimes opening a whole bottle for just one glass seems wasteful and could tempt us to drink more than we would like.
However, with the increasing popularity of canned wines those worries are a thing of the past and now nothing can stand between you and your glass of wine.
The popularity of canned wine could be attributed to its versatility and suitability for outdoor events and festivals. However, it is fair to say canned wine in general seems to have bad rap and some people tend to shy away from it as a result. We are very grateful to have had a chat with Simon Rollins the CEO of Canned Wine & Co. a canned wine company established in early 2020 who will tell us a little more about the up and coming canned wine industry.
Tell us a little bit about Canned Wine Co. , how long you have been around and what do you produce?
Canned Wine Co. launched at the beginning of 2020. It’s our mission to make the world’s most exciting wines more accessible, sustainable and convenient for all wine drinkers. We focus on showcasing unique and unusual grape varieties, working with top winemakers who are famous for their particular grape. We currently have five wines; Grüner Veltliner, Viognier, Grenache Rosé, St Laurent and Old Vine Garnacha.
What gave you the inspiration to establish Canned Wine Co.?
Lisa and Simon were inspired to launch Canned Wine Co. in the spring of 2019. Passionate about food and drink they both found great wine was difficult to find, opaque to understand and too expensive! Have you always wondered why enjoying great wine wasn’t much easier, more accessible and more inclusive? So after many evenings of wanting to enjoy a glass of wine with dinner but not wanting to open a bottle, Simon and Lisa decided there must be a better way! As a couple that enjoys an active lifestyle, a smaller amount of something great always appealed much more than a lot of something average. A few months passed, but after attending a festival in Summer 2019 and finding the wine option was poured from a heavy glass bottle into a single use plastic cup, enough was enough, and we set about launching Canned Wine Co.!
What is unique about Canned Wine Co.?
Our grape varieties and relentless focus on quality!There’s a lot of bad canned wines out there, but then that’s true of bottles too! At Canned Wine Co. we take the science of canning as seriously as the tasting of it. We select grape varieties that are well suited to canning, and avoid varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc that can badly. We believe cans offer the best, and lowest risk, way to explore premium quality wines and to discover a broader range of varieties. That’s why you won’t find the ‘usual’ suspects at Canned Wine Co!
Is canned wine a relatively new concept? tell us a little bit about it.
Wine in cans has been around for a long time, I think the first attempts to can wine were way back in the 1930s, however, canning ‘great’ wines is a relatively new thing mostly pioneered in the US. The liners of aluminium have come on leaps and bounds in recent years and are now capable of holding the liquid which in the past they weren’t able to do due to wines unique combination of high alcohol and acidity.
Canning wines isn’t all that simple though. We source our wines to a very tight technical specification to ensure they continue tasting great long after they are canned. Cans are completely sealed, which unlike bottles, allows no oxygen or light into the wine. Whilst this can be a good thing, for example the wine should stay as vibrant and bright as the day it was canned, it can also be bad, leading to reductive qualities. The wines also won’t age in a can either so picking youthful styles or wines that are already aged is key.
What sets wine in cans apart from traditional bottled wine?
Bottled wines are bound by a lot of heritage and legislation about how they are named and presented. With cans there’s a fantastic opportunity to break down the barriers to premium wine and offer a more accessible, fun alternative to bottles. At Canned Wine Co. for example, our branding reflects the flavour of the wine inside so hopefully our customers get a sense of what it is they’re about to enjoy, rather than assuming that someone should know what a Grüner Veltliner is or what grape varieties make up a wine from Bordeaux.
Why should people buy canned wine?
Why should people buy bottled wine? First and foremost because the wines taste great! Cans are infinitely recyclable, with a much lower impact on the environment than glass throughout their lifecycle. In fact when you recycle an aluminium can, its likely to back on a shelf as a can within 4 weeks! They are more efficient to pack, chill, won’t break and reduce wastage.
Do you see canned wine being the future of the wine industry?
I see canned wine becoming an increasingly important part of the wine industry going forward. I believe demand will grow for a wider choice of formats with a drive towards greater sustainability changing customer habits. In our experience customers are much more open to new formats than wine buyers, or ‘the trade’ thinks they are.
Bottles are great, but the days of shipping heavy, breakable glass bottles around the world are limited. Cans offer a much reduced carbon footprint to bottles without some of the drawbacks of larger formats like bag-in-box.
Thanks to Simon from Canned Wine Co for taking the time to educate us all on Canned Wine and its ever-growing place within the drinks industry. I have to say I’m sold, I’m going to treat myself to a can of wine this evening and you should too. Find Canned Wine & Co.’s Grenache & Gruner in our limited edition Garden Party Box!