The Epic Battle: Bottle vs Can!
We have all seen them on the shelf and some of us have sneered while others have cheered – the wine in a can.
As a fun New Year’s Eve experiment, I put my friends through a little social experiment and served them Champagne, Prosecco and California sparking in a can all blind, meaning they had no idea what was in their glasses except that it was white, wet and possibly wine. We all have some preconceived notions about what kind of quality wine can come out of a can and I wanted to see if regular wine drinking peeps could really see a difference.
The short story is that yes, there was a difference even though only 50% of them were able to correctly identify the bottle vs the can. Still, 50% is a pretty good number!
Previously I had completed tasting notes on the bubbly in a can, Francis Ford Coppola’s Sophia (Sophia Blanc de Blanc) comparing it directly to its wine in a bottle. To me the bottle vs the can were not even the same wine with strikingly different characteristics and the bottle being far superior. So why drink wine out of a can?
Great question and there are some really good reasons! First there is a difference between “tasting” wine and “drinking” wine. When you are tasting wine and looking for all of the nuances that are present and evolving maybe wine out of a can is not the one to go to (at least not the Sophia). When you are tailgating before a Dave Matthews Band concert, the Sophia is a perfect fit for those people who are not beer drinkers. Or maybe you are headed to the beach and 50 of your closest friends show up to drink your margaritas in a plastic pitcher; good thing you packed a few cans of wine to enjoy. I even have a friend that packs a few cans in her purse to start her grocery shopping. (Let’s face it, we all need a little something to get us through the horror of grocery shopping!)
The thing is that glass is not allowed into some of our favorite drinking destinations and the wine in a can is a perfect alternative. The can allows the wine to be transported in a light weight package that is easily packed and carried almost everywhere. The flavor of the wine will remain consistent until the can is open and can be stored for about 6 months (about the same as beer). It tastes great cold, so make sure it is chilled, pop it open and enjoy. Plus there is nothing that screams fun like drinking bubbly from a straw!
