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In the Details: Putting Wine in a Beer Can Is Not as Simple as It Sounds

By Rachel Swaby - November 1, 2013

in In the Details

About a year ago Union Wine Co. decided it needed to do a little rebranding. Ever since the Oregon-based company opened in 2005, it had embraced an unfussy approach to imbibing, but the company realized its message to consumers could be clearer. During a particularly electric brainstorming session earlier this year, it landed on a slogan, "pinkies down," and a brave new method of delivery: wine in a can.

Ryan Harms, the owner of Union Wine Co., is a firm believer in the saying "it takes a lot of good beer to make good wine." He likes the way a beer can feels in your hand and its portability, but he didn't seriously think about canning wine until that rebranding meeting in June. He and his team talked about wanting their products to be accessible, both in the approachability of the varietals' flavors and the ease with which one could grab a drink. They wanted to see their wines included on a backcountry skiing trip or packed for an exploration of Mount Hood. All of a sudden, the can seemed like a viable wine-delivery option. But the company also had a difficult set of parameters to work within. Wine production is regulated, and wine can only be sold in certain size containers. At the same time, Harms felt very strongly about keeping it in a can that looked and felt like a beer can. That size, he thought, just felt so much more satisfying in the hand than the skinny cans in the energy drink world, which he didn't have any emotional connection to. But the average 12-ounce beer can holds just under an amount that can be put on store shelves. If Union wants a beer can, those cans will actually have to hold 375 milliliters, or 12.68 ounces.

The packaging design for Union Wine's products, including its wine-can prototype, is by Story Manufacturing Co. Can photos by Graham Hiemstra for Cool Hunting

Union Wine was also up against a problem of the wine itself, which often likes special treatment before being consumed. Some wines should be decanted to introduce more surface area to the air. Others are only at their best in a glass of a certain shape or at a pre-determined age.

Harms is half businessman and half winemaker, and he didn't want the business idea to come at the expense of his craft. But he was also really tied to the everyday can. So he tailored the wine to suit the can instead of the other way around, discounting any varietal that wouldn't do well there. "The types of wine in cans don't need to be decanted or to age for five years to be accessible," says Harms. "That would be a real disservice to put products like that in a can." Wines that do better: "wines from the fresh and fruit-driven world, whether that's white or red."Because it doesn't have a lot of tannins, the company's Oregon pinot noir fit the bill. For whites, it went with a pinot gris, which has a higher acid level, and is also fruit-driven. For these blends—and the newer-to-wine clientele Union Wine is trying to reach—the can is a fine delivery system, says Harms.

During Portland's Feast Food and Wine festival in September, Union Wine brought out some wine-in-a-can for consumer testing. And apart from some concerns from connoisseurs that canned wine might be tinny (something Union Wine had not previously thought about), everyday taste-testers were pretty pleased.

But those cans were average beer size, and to get the product into stores, Union Wine has to make its cans a wee bit taller, which it's working on with an Oregon-based manufacturer, to keep costs low. Harms hopes that the little extra height won't feel much different to consumers.

Harms and his team are also considering adding a lining to the can, which is common in other fruit juice and wine-in-can operations. But before they do, Harms wants to be absolutely sure that it would be a net positive for the wine.

While they figure out the last few details, Harms is taking solace in a comment he overheard at the Feast festival. When a woman in her 70s was offered wine in a can or in a bottle, she chose the can: "I have to have this," she said. "It would be perfect for the golf course."

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John

11 years ago

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You can thank Frank Reynolds for the wine-in-a-can deal.
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Linda Couzens

6 years ago

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I think it is a great idea! And I am not a big wine drinker. But I know a lot that are, and this would be great for them. Sometimes they would enjoy wine in a can when they go on a picnic, hiking, golfing, family get togethers, traveling, bowling and all recreational activities. At the beach, when alcohol is allowed, but not in bottles, endless! Go for it!

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Joe

11 years ago

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They do this with surplus product in France to discount it in supermarkets if none of the preferred blenders buys a producer's product.

Bums buy it.
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Andrew

11 years ago

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I should point out that I do enjoy wine and beer, I've spent many years in the hospitality industry both as a designer and an owner/licensee. I'm not anti-drinking, but I am pro-responsible drinking.

Are single-serve cans designed for sharing? The opening is designed to pour into a mouth, not a glass, and if you're sharing why would you not reach for a resealable bottle or Tetrapak?

I wonder what MADD (or the Sierra Club, Alvin) thinks of this handy invention?
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Timothy

11 years ago

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I think this is a great idea. It's novel and interesting. @Andrew, I understand your point, but only if you drink it,like beer. I think sharing a can of wine would be a nice ting to do.
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Tony Bell

11 years ago

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Wine in a can has been around for a number of years in Australia
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alvin

11 years ago

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This is a really good idea, as long as they don't use some toxic plastic BPA stuff to line the cans..although I wonder if aluminum would be the best material for something as acidic as red wine. but for portability and packability it would be great, and indeed, I would be bringing cans of it into the backcountry and on similar adventures. A glass bottle is really heavy, uncompressable, and even dangerous, and very bulky. I hope this starts a trend.
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Will

11 years ago

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Of course it's not a good thing... It's a GREAT THING!!!
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lakawak

11 years ago

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Andrew...most people don't drink wine alone. Well..sad and lonely people do. Notice the picture where he is pouring it into a glass. No reason why two people couldn't share one.
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- Linda Couzens
  
  6 years ago
  
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  That is so not true!! I know people who enjoy a glass of wine that live alone and are successful and have many friends!
  
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Justin

11 years ago

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No mention that the idea for wine in a can is blatantly ripped off from "Always Sunny"?
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Kevin

11 years ago

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I like how they essentially stole this idea from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Not a shred of originality anymore.
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Andrew

11 years ago

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Once open these can't be resealed, and at 13% alcohol 1 can of wine is roughly equivalent to 2-3 cans of beer. I don't see this as a good thing.
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- Linda Couzens
  
  6 years ago
  
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  Wine in bottles, need to be drunk up in a reasonable time frame. So why can't that apply to wine in cans?!
  
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