Last week M Wine Store in London’s Victoria launched premium wine served into re-usable bottles from a 30 litre keg. They also have a trial going with an upmarket London restaurant group for the same wines. Is this the way in which wine is served in the on-trade about to go through a revolution over the next few years?
The glass bottle has been the mainstay of wine storage and service since Roman times and the 75cl size was standardised around the time we joined the EU. Previously from around the 18th century, the size of glassware varied from 700-800 ml. From the late 1970’s the Americans standardised at 75cl and separately the EU settled on 75cl. And there we have stayed almost Canute like with the 75cl bottle.
There has been growth in other sizes for example the single serve 18.75cl and the 2 and 3 litre Bag-in-Box and trials with 37.5cl (half bottles) some individuals becoming passionate about them – Waitrose featured them heavily a few years ago in a drive to give people choice with more measured consumption.
Cans, tetra paks and the ‘green’ bottle made from recycled paper, albeit with a plastic inner bladder, have all been tried but I think that it is fair to say that they have never truly taken off.
To some degree they have remained part of the landscape of packaging available but always remain rather functional rather than desirable. Do you ever see yourself taking a tetra pak of wine to a dinner party or a tray of ‘wine-tinnies’ to your mate’s BBQ? Most people don’t and remain steadfastly with the 75cl bottle.
This stoicism is at odds with the ways in which we as consumers have embraced different packaging for all sorts of other foods – pouches, smaller sizes, treat sizes. In fact packaging has in many ways led development in the food market.
Even the way in which we are served food in a restaurant for example on slates and boards – ways in which we wouldn’t have dreamed of 20 years ago.
So for home drinking we may remain with the 75cl glass bottle for some while yet, but where we drink wine on the premises – hotel, bar, restaurants etc then maybe we are starting to see a change.
This partnership launch in the ‘M’ Wine store has been brought to the surface after much trialling and effort by the importer Hatch Mansfield, distributor Matthew Clark and producers in New Zealand and France. Whilst this is an off-trade (shop) trial, it was interesting to investigate the quality that is delivered at the point of consumption.
The wines chosen for this are interesting in their own right. They are not Vin de Table or even a step up but above average quality wines which typically trade at around double the retail price of the UK average.
A good quality Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, which has become the mainstay of New Zealand wine. It is a wine bar favourite around the UK. The red is a high quality Beaujolais village wine – Fleurie. Both of these wines would typically trade at £10 or so in retail and a Fleurie,
I tasted both from the tap and was able to see a little behind the scenes as to the operation to keep the wines in good condition for the ‘perfect serve’. It is an intricate network of pipes and vacuum (to keep the wine fresh, they don’t use gas but an absence of air). So as the wine is extracted from the ‘keg’ then the plastic liner collapses inside. Air is wine’s biggest enemy when ensuring fresh fruity tasting wine.
They were both exactly in line with what you would expect of these wines, with perhaps the Fleurie elevating itself to being marginally superior. Would I be happy to receive a glass of these served from a bar tap? Absolutely I would!
And with some investment think of the opportunities to brand, and offer different serve sizes according to occasion.
There is also a value part of this equation that makes me feel good as a consumer. The serve size and pricing can be much more transparent than for 75cl in comparison to a glass.
With the latter there is disproportionate incentive for the retailer to trade consumers up from the glass to the bottle; witness buy 2 glasses get the third free. At which point the consumer wonders about the mark up on wine in the on-trade environment. Whereas with the keg, the retailer is never going to trade you up from a glass to the keg, so the pricing almost has to be more transparent.
Further, the serve quality can be honed. Mark Calver, Director at the specialist wine importers Hatch Mansfield sees this as the next stage in development. If they can describe the perfect temperature, glass and preparation then there is a template to guarantee consumer delivery and something to feature and promote. Look at what Guinness have done!
And then there are the green considerations. Shipping glass around the world is an expensive luxury for our personal taste. Shipping these kegs saves 17kgs of glass being shipped around the world and that is not to mention the benefits of shipping a keg rather than 40 bottles (30 litres) from port via depot to sub depot to customer.
So if the quality is right, the serve is good, brands and bar managers start to develop size and occasion service, the value equation is more equitable and transparent, and the environmental aspects put some of the icing on top then the serve from kegs may well become the norm for many on-trade outlets. It certainly seems to make a lot of sense, but whether or not consumers choose it in the long term – time will tell!
Alistair Morrell
Hospitality & Catering News, Wine Content Executive