Convenient & Portable: Canned Wine is Here To Stay

Wine in a can is perfect for laid-back summer sipping at parks, cottages, or when you arrive at a backyard summer BBQ and have a ton of ingredients to bring.

With greater quality and selection than ever before for consumers, the category is booming.  It’s a convenient, lightweight, environmentally friendly and portable way to enjoy wine so it’s no surprise sales soar in the summer months.

“A lot of people don’t want to open a bottle of wine because they’re worried they won’t finish it. Especially sparkling wine, which, once opened will start to lose the bubbles” said Greg Wertsch, co-owner of Between the Lines winery in Niagara on the Lake.

Five years ago, Between the Lines saw an opportunity and bought a canning line. They were the first winery in Ontario to put wine in a can.

“Our biggest mission was to put good product in cans,” said Wertsch.

Since then they’ve helped about a dozen other wineries do the same.

Winemaker Marc Pistor admits he was a skeptic but that changed the more he learned about it and the more canned wines he tasted.

He recently canned his One Horse Town Vidal at Dark Horse Estate Winery in Grand Bend, one of Ontario’s emerging wine regions.

“It is a really great opportunity for wine to find either a new market, maybe beer or cider drinkers, or to give another option to wine consumers,” said Pistor. “You don’t have to grab your regular old can of beer. Instead, you can grab that can of Ontario VQA wine.”

One thing to remember when it comes to single-serve wine-in-a-can options is the shelf life is shorter – about a year.

“You’re not going to put one of these in your cellar and have it age for a very long period of time,” Pistor said. “These are buy now, drink now.”

So, what are you waiting for! Get out there and try a canned wine beverage before the summer comes to a close.