Lifestyle / Alcohol

French firm breaks taboo with wine in a can

A French start-up hopes to revolutionise wine consumption in France by selling produce from quality-assured vineyards – in tin cans.

Jun 12, 2013 | By AFPRelaxnews

winestar

A start-up out of France is getting a lot of buzz and raising eyebrows for launching a range of canned wines in a country of wine purists, where traditional winemaking traditions are fiercely upheld.

Winestar is the latest company to put wine in an aluminum can, joining the likes of brands like Barokes, Francis Ford Coppola and Friends Just Wine in taking the concept of boxed and bagged wines a step further.

In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, Winestar co-founder Cédric Segal said his goal is to make his company the “Nespresso of wine,” in reference to the concept of single-serve portions.

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He’s also targeting a specific market and season: young French consumers who are bypassing wine shelves and instead plucking off cans of fizzy drinks and juices to wash down their picnic dinners.

Segal’s reasoning: lighter, portable, user-friendly cans filled with premium, AOC wines will encourage consumers to put wine back on the picnic menu, practically a summertime sport throughout the country.

Meanwhile, wine consumption in France has experienced a precipitous decline over the years. In 1965, the average per capita consumption was 160 liters per adult. By 2010 that fell to 57 liters.

The latest figures out of France’s ministry of agriculture also show that fewer than one in five French adults now drink wine almost every day.

To launch the new line, Winestar is featuring a wine from Chateau de l’Ille of the Corbieres region, one of 12 AOC wines to be featured. The term AOC — Appellation d’origine contrôlée  — is used to designate the terroir of products like wines and cheeses special to a specific geographical area.

Other AOC wines will come from Bordeaux, Bourgogne, Loire and Alsace among others.

The can, meanwhile, is said to use a special coating that isolates the wine from the metal to ensure stability and the integrity of the wine. A 187 ml can retails for €2.50.


 
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