People have been sending me positive feedback on my recent wine in a box series.  I must admit that I was somewhat surprised by the kind words I received.  But I suppose the niceties were largely due to the subject matter as opposed to my brilliant writing and reviews.  Further evidence that the whole wine in a box issue is front and center appeared when Dr Vino wrote a piece for Forbes.com; “Box Wines That Can Be a Hit”.

So you can imagine how pleased I was when I read a related piece I could write about.  It seems the good folks at Deloach vineyards are taking this minimizing carbon footprint issue to a new level.  Seemingly (at this point) a pilot project, Deloach vineyards is selling wine in 10 liter size barrels to commercial restaurant/hotel accounts.  This enables these businesses to sell wine by the glass straight from this barrel, eliminating the need for these 10 liters to be shipped as 14+ bottles.

But HOW does the wine stay fresh?  Doesn’t air/oxygen enter the barrel as it is emptying, resulting in oxidized wine?  Ahhh…good question – this is where the comparison to wine in a box comes into play.  Once accounts have this 10 liter barrel, Deloach ships the wine in 10 liter eco-bags.  I must admit though, that I am not certain exactly how the bag gets into the barrel (removable barrel head?).  Regardless, it does seem pretty cool to me!

SO, are we seeing the end of the wine bottle?  I do not think so, as the finest of wines still do seem to age best in traditional bottles with traditional corks.  But since Americans, & I would venture a guess most consumers, consume wine within a few days (even hours) after purchasing, I would say that most wines CAN in fact be consumed from containers OTHER THAN glass bottles.

Happy wine in a barrel wine tasting!

WTG