THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. **** Saturday/Sunday, August 17 - 18, 2019|D 1
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they launched a canned version of one of their
most popular winery-direct wines, Butter-
cream Chardonnay.
Ryan Harms, founder and owner of Union
Wine Company, an Oregon-based winery that
produces winein both bottles and cans,thinks
canned-wine sales are actually greater than
the Nielsen numbers show. “Nielsen only
tracks retail,not restaurant sales,”hepointed
out. His companywas one of the first canned-
wine producersin the U.S., debutingin 2014,
andis currently one of the largest, producing
over a half-millioncasesofbottles andcans.
Mr. Harms estimates that his companyac-
counts forabout 15%ofcanned-wine retail
salesinthis country.
Inmyweekly“On Wine” column, I’ve moni-
tored the trend and maintained a degree of
skepticism regarding the relative merits of
this mode of packaging. But there’s no deny-
ing the dynamicproliferation of canned wines;
asignificant number have debutedinjust the
past coupleyears. Some are extensionsofex-
isting brands, such as Buttercream or House
Wine, a label created byCharles Smith, now
owned byPrecept Wine. Others, such as Lar-
kan Pink fromBruce Devlin and Sean LarkinatThree Clicks Wines,are new products from
winemakers wanting to try a new format.
Options that weren’t available 20 years
ago make canning accessible to winemakers
traditionallybound to bottles. The Larkan
Pink,made from Pinot Noir sourcedin Car-
neros, Calif.,is canned via a mobile canning
unitdrivenfromwineryto winery. Some
winemakers turn to John Wilkinson, manag-
ing partner at Bin to Bottle, a custom crush
wineryin Napa, Calif. Mr. Wilkinsoninstalled
acanning line at his facility only this past
spring, and he said he currently fields about
four calls a day from winemakers hoping to
make acanned wine at BintoBottle. While
the majorityof his businessisstill focused
onhigh-end winein bottles, the canned side
isgrowing fast.
The technical challengesinvolvedinpro-
ducing winein cans can be daunting,evenfor
experienced producers. For example,each
winecancomes withaliner whose exact
compositionis a closely guarded secret, and
everynew wine must be tested bythe can
companybefore the cans can be released to
be filled bytheindividual producer,inorder
PleaseturntopageD6W
HEN WAS the last time you
purchased a wine for a par-
ticular sport or outdoor ac-
tivity—a Pinot Grigiofora
beach volleyball game, a
roséfor a round of golf or maybe a bubbly to
bring along to the ballpark? Until recently, my
answer was never. Butcanned-wine makers
are betting that’s what more drinkers want to
do, and they seem to be right.
According to Nielsen, sales of canned wine
rose bynearly80% thisyear over last. Still,
wine in bottles saw over $15 billion in sales
thisyear and wine in boxes $1.4 billion, while
sales of wine in cans amounted to about $9 0
million. So,is canned wine really the Next Big
Thing or—dare I sayit—a flashin the can?
“Boxes represent a much bigger category
than cans but[are seeing]slower growth,”
said Jonathan Bennett,executive vice presi-
dent, merchandising and supply chain, for To-
tal Wine & More,anational chainwith 200
storesin 23 states. Mr. Bennett said thecom-
panyis keeping an eye on canned wines and
stocking more and more options. This spring,BYLETTIETEAGUEF. MARTIN RAMIN/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, STYLING BY ANNE CARDENAS, MODEL: BRYAN FITZGERALD/PARTS MODELSOFF DUTY
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Is the
Wine
Bottle
Over?
Canned wine is
trending, touted as the
perfect pairingfor
beach, ballpark and
beyond. But can a can
really rival the pleasure
of uncorking? To find
out, our wine expert
committed to a week of
pop-toppoursSIX-PACKPALATE Whether wine in cans will ever scale the heights of high-end gastronomyremains to be seen. But the canned categoryis growing at a faster rate than bottled or boxed.