Can of Wine vs. Can of Worms
Filed in archive Wine News by tammy on May 01, 2007

Wine closures made of glass, exotic anti-corks such as Zork, and wine sealed with beer bottle crown caps make the screw cap closure seem tame. Sommeliers, ever zealous of their turf, have even devised a special corkscrew for screw caps, so they can maintain some ceremony at the table. One way or another, consumers are warming to the notion that screw caps do not signal plonk, and wineries are thrilled at the idea that screw caps eliminate TCA taint, which affects up to five percent of wine with natural corks.
In fact, the latest ACNielsen data, presented at the January 2007 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, showed that the number of American wineries using screw caps on standard 750-ml bottles had climbed from three percent in 2002 to 24 percent in 2006-an eightfold increase. Still, wines topped with screw caps account for just four percent of all 750-ml table wine sales in the U.S., compared with 61 percent in New Zealand and almost 50% in Germany.
Alternative closures are just the beginning of the industry's efforts to attract new consumers with innovative ideas. Stemware without stems, sparkling wine in cans-with straws attached-and still more tradition-thumping designs are rapidly changing the way wine is packaged, promoted, purchased and poured.
The Alliance for Innovative Wine Packaging, an association of wine industry marketers and suppliers, defines its mission as "to reset the shelves of the world's wine marketplace by advancing the culture of wine through innovative, exciting and easily accessible packaging." That begins, says AIWP, with screw caps on glass bottles and quickly moves on to premium wine in boxes, PET plastic, flexible packaging, aluminum containers, and beyond. They call it "a revolution in wine access."
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