From the get-go, wine buying is unique in Pennsylvania: In an unusual arrangement, the PLCB, the largest purchaser of wine and liquor in the US, operates some 620 stores and controls distribution of wine and liquor in the state. This new program is its attempt to become more consumer friendly.
Not friendly enough, of course, to sell to minors or sots. The kiosks feature technology that prevents sales to underage and intoxicated people. A PLCB employee monitors the transaction from a remote location and can interact with the consumer. The photo on the shopper’s ID is matched with a video image of the buyer at the kiosks, which also have built-in Breathalyzers. Failing either test nixes the deal.
Tanks dispensing wine have been installed in several French supermarkets. Vins de pays (country wines) stored in super-sized 500- and 1,000-liter tanks are being pumped at kiosks. Like most wines in innovative containers, they benefit the environment and, at about $2 a liter, the pocketbook. The huge rectangular receptacles — the smaller ones are roughly 9 ft. X 4 ft. X 6 ft. — are conceptually similar to a huge gas-station tank, pump and all. Shoppers can bring their own jug or buy a bag-in-box at the store. Negotiations are in progress to launch in all stores of a major retail supermarket in France and, regulation-permitting, the tanks should be headed for the US next year.
The Internet too is another source of clever merchandising. Sample-size bottles of some of California’s finest wines are being sold in 6-packs at tastingroom.com. The idea is to bring wine tasting rooms directly to your living room.
Before you invest in any full-size 25.4-oz. (750-ml) bottles, you can try 1.7-oz. (50 ml) tastes. The new T.A.S.T.E. (Total Anaerobic Sample Transfer Environment) Technology™, developed especially for tastingroom.com, allows wine to be transferred from large to small bottles in a zero-oxygen environment. This ensures that the wine in the mini-bottles tastes the same as that in the large bottles.
The tastes hail from 35 wineries and include more than 150 choices from some of California’s finest: DeLoach Vineyard, Domaine Carneros, Grgich Hills and the newly launched La Follette among them. Also available: multi-winery "Taste Adventure" options like "Hidden Gems." Each wine sampling kit includes tasting notes; most cost $19.99 to $29.99. TastingRoom currently ships to 24 states and the District of Columbia.
The very lightweight pouch is the latest format to join boxes, cartons and cans in competing with bottles for home use. In July, Glenora Wine Cellars in New York’s Finger Lakes region became the first in the US to sell one of its wines, the Trestle Creek Riesling, in the unbreakable, environmentally friendly 1.5-liter plastic bag-sans-box package. Now its Trestle Creek Chardonnay is bagged too. The 7 in. X 10 in. x 2 in. pouch is just 2% package and 98% wine, and has a 60% lower carbon footprint than glass. Pouches offer the same advantages as barrels and kegs plus one: the wine chills quickly.
The US has come late to the wine-packaging revolution, but at last it’s catching on. Hopefully more and more producers will join the movement as consumers learn about and enjoy the many advantages of alternative packaging.
©2010 Sharon Kapnick for SeniorWomen.com
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