Well, that was unexpected

[desperance]

I just bought a bottle of serious wine. In a plastic bottle.

Screw-tops are almost commonplace by now, and I don't think twice; but a plastic bottle...? I didn't even know it was under consideration. (I have long treasured a friend's story of seeing a man sitting on a quay in France, drinking from a plastic bottle simply labelled "Vin", on the principle presumably that you could see for yourself if it was rouge or blanc; but that could as easily have been labelled "Plonk", and this is a different thing altogether.)

It's the same volume of liquid as a standard bottle, and the same diameter, and a good bit shorter to underscore the simple volume of glass; and it has a Best Before date on it, which is July of this year, so no: it is not setting itself up as a long-term substitute, only as a handy portable container for the final part of the process from grape to mouth.

But still. Wolf Blass green label Cabernet Shiraz: it's not a mock-wine.

Comments

[rezendi.livejournal.com]

In Australia you can get serious wine in a box. (With a mylar bladder within; once the wine is drunk, the bladder, reinflated, makes for a decent pillow.)

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Hee. Anaesthetic and bedding...

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

They've been in the UK for many years (20?) but have mostly been considered bog standard party wine. If I were still drinking I would consider them because they automatically seal themselves closed so you can have one glass a day until the box is finished.

Of course I cant say what you consider *serious* wine to be :-)

[footlingagain.livejournal.com]

But but but..... I thought everyone was against plastic bottles on principle. It's not so tactile and elegant as glass, it makes noxious islands in the oceans, it tends not to be recycled much, it's useless for braining someone in a fight.....

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Mmm, I think I'm pretty much against it. For most of the reasons you cite. This one does assert itself to be recyclable, which wins marks for effort, though there is of course a difference between that and actually being recycled...

I only bought it because it was there, and I was startled. I'm not planning to start a collection.

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

And furthermore, what on earth will all those suburban bistros use for candlesticks?

[footlingagain.livejournal.com]

I only bought it because it was there, and I was startled.

Oh, I would have had to buy one, too, out of curiosity. I was just shocked at the innovation, when everyone seems to be promoting old-tech, at least where bottles and bags are concerned.

The boys will no doubt approve - empty plastic bottles can be chased much farther than empty glass ones.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

Not a mock wine, but New World...

We did once have a half-gallon of Lindisfarne mead in a plastic container, and it took us so long to drink it that by the end it had a distinct flavour of plastic - but this may well be a special case.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Privately? I think Lindisfarne mead has always tasted of plastic. And thin plastic at that.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

This was long ago, and while I'm not so fond of the stuff now, at the time we liked it well enough, and noticed a marked alteration.

Also, you have the oddest ideas of privacy...

[pennski.livejournal.com]

We've only got as far as Wolf Blass yellow label. Must start looking out for green labels.

Our plastic bottles get collected every fortnight in a green bin, so it's actually easier to recycle them than glass ones.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

The red label is also good. Firm assertive wines, the whole range.

When I presided at a wedding in a castle, it was Wolf Blass we drank.

[anef.livejournal.com]

I believe that as plastic bottles are lighter it takes less fuel to transport them. Also if smaller one can transport a greater volume of wine in the same space. Presumably important if shipping from Australia.

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

It may be cultural prejudice, or plain snobbery, but I've always felt that plastic bottles will play havoc with a wine's taste. Mind you, I suppose that a wine one deems worthy to be stored in a plastic bottle is not one that you'll want to keep overlong in your cellar, nor whose taste will get much degraded by a tang of plastic seeping in.

But all the same, I think it's nasty...

We also have some wine in cardboard boxes much like milk cartons. It's also the kind of cheap plonk that's pretty much a wave from afar to what wine should be. Something you drink at table just to wet the whistle and facilitate the absorption of food, when water is unavailable or harmful.

Or when you're really allergic to water.

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

Marks and Spencers have done wine in a plastic bottle for a few years now as they are perfect for picnics and such ...

... the wine in a bladder in a box has also been around, as Alex say, for absolutely ages ...

... the thing that surprised me a few years ago was wine in a pull ring tin (like a coke can) ... I know Tescos still sell those as I saw them yesterday.

You can also get wine in big tetrapacks (like OJ cardboard cartons) and those have been available for years as I remember a sketch on Alias Smith and Jones or Not the Nine O'Clock News which had someone pulling out a litre box, and a big straw and drinking from it like a giant lunchbox juice carton.

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

There's been some push to get better wine in those boxes, mostly from restaurants, since they can sell wine by the glass with less loss from spoilage that way, and they like to keep that profit margin up any way they can.

It's true that many plastics break down with age, and this would affect the taste of anything stored in a bottle that had reached that point, because the contents would start interacting with the plastic sooner or later--it's one of the complicating factors in plastic recycling--presumably, that's why your bottle had a best-by date.

All I can say is ewww.