Call it what you will--keg wine, cannister wine, wine on tap, wine in barrel, draft wine--it's finally here, beginning today.
Sasha's on Shaw and the newly-opened Green Bean in the CWE will be the first restaurants in town to use the new delivery system, according to Kyle Harsha of Harsha Wines, the first local distibutor to carry cannister wines. The wine will be available at Sasha's immediately (well, after an industry tasting there this afternoon) and at Green Bean as soon as their licensing is finalized.
The movement to having wines by the glass available "on tap" began several years ago in California, a continuance of the Green Revolution in the wine business. Using recyclable stainless steel cylinders for wine (the same type and size used for soft drink syrup and 1/6 beer barrels, see above) makes perfect sense as an eco-friendly and less expensive way to store, ship, and serve wine. (The technical name for the vessel is a Cornelius keg, but only full-on container geeks use that term.)
It's a user-friendly system, as existing beer taps are easily retrofitted: brass fittings are swapped out for stainless steel, and an inert gas (purified nitrogen) replaces the CO2 used to pressurize and drive draft beer systems. And since there's no longer any oxygen present, wine stored in cylinders stays fresh-tasting for months, more than long enough to sell it contents (5 gallons or just over 2 cases of 750 ml bottles).
The new system reduces the cost of packaging (wine bottle, label, cork, foil, and crate/box account for $2 per bottle), stainless steel "ships" better than glass, the nitrogen driver prevents waste and spoilage on the service end, and the cost to the consumer is less. What's not to like?
Well, maybe the stigma. The new system reduces the snob appeal of wine (which can be perceived as either a good or bad thing). Then there's the whole love affair with corks...wine devotees profess there's something magical about the pop of a cork (which all the screw-top advocates have apparently gotten over). The proof, for most of us, is in the wine itself, and Harsha has enlisted a premium wine maker, former St. Louisan Nick Floulis, to supply St. Louis with its first cannister wines. His line is called Aiden, and right now has only two varietals, a 2010 Napa Valley Chard and a 2009 Sonoma Coast Pinot, both being made exclusively for cannister use. Also worth noting: the wines aren't cheap ($10 per glass at Sasha's, most likely less at Green Bean). But the value is there, as Harsha explains: "Having wines on tap allows the seller to shave $1 to 2 off the price of those wines."
Will cannister wines be the next big thing? Harsha seems to think so. "It's simply a win for all involved, " he said. "The only downside is when lesser wines enter the cannister market, but if I have anything to say about it, that won't happen here. I will only license the better quality juice."
