Tag Archives: Coca-cola

Dead Weight — Are heavy wine bottles a good idea?

Published on April 17, 2020

The other night I had a gorgeous rosé….which I have ZERO desire to ever purchase again.

For comparison, I weighed a FULL bottle of Champagne as well. You expect that to be thick and heavy to hold the pressure.
It was 1595 grams, meaning that this empty rosé bottle (892 g) weighed more than HALF a full bottle of Champagne.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. It was absolutely lovely. Superb even.

The 2018 Flor de Muga from Rioja checked off so many of my yummy boxes. High-intensity aromatics of strawberries, citrus peel and peaches. Crackling acidity and freshness with a little bit of creamy texture coming from the oak. Long minerally finish that introduces some cinnamon spice to add complexity. Scrumptious to the last drop.

But every time I refilled my glass, enthusiasm for buying this rosé diminished. Because regardless of how much pleasure it was giving me, I couldn’t get past how obnoxiously heavy the bottle was.

It was ridiculous. Holding the empty Muga bottle in my hand, I was startled with how similar the weight felt compared to the bottle of Bodegas Tradición Amontillado I had just opened that was mostly still full. While I bought this bottle online, the next time I see this wonderful and exceptionally well-made rosé available for purchase, it’s going to get a big ole “Nope” from me.

Why?

Because there are TONS of wonderful and exceptionally well-made rosés out there that I can buy instead–including many that I have yet to discover. There’s no monopoly, anywhere, from any region or winery for quality wine. Like every other consumer, I have near limitless options to spend my money. Making good wine alone doesn’t cut it.

And, frankly, life’s too short to waste time with obnoxious fat ass bottles.

As part of a Millennial generation that has been telling brands for years that we want more sustainable, less wasteful packaging, seeing wineries still cling to these ridiculous heavy bottles sends the message that they’re not serious about sustainability. I don’t care what platitudes of stewardship you put on your website if I’m holding the contradiction right in my hands.

But this isn’t just a Millennial thing.

Folks like Jancis Robinson have been speaking about the foolishness of Naughty Heavy Bottles (NHBs) for years. Thankfully, savvy wineries have been responding. Many are finding that not only can they save a substantial amount of money by being more environmentally conscience, it’s what many of their customers want.

Jason Haas of Tablas Creek noted his surprise at this revelation when he looked back on his winery’s journey towards greener bottles.

But before we made our bottle change, we reached out to our fans on Facebook, Twitter, and this blog asking for what they looked for in a wine bottle. I was expecting a mix of people in favor of the solidity and feel of the heavier bottles and those who wanted the greener environmental footprint of the lighter bottles. And there were a few of each of those. But the overwhelming majority of the responses focused on utility: people wanted bottles that they could lift and store comfortably, and larger bottles don’t fit in many pre-made wine racks. The hostility toward the larger bottles was eye-opening.

— Jason Haas “A lighter wine bottle revisited, 10 years and 1,370,000 pounds of glass later”, July 29, 2019

But wait, Amber. What about all those marketing and psychology studies saying that people respond positivity to heavy bottles?

They’ve all got merit. I’m not going to dispute that. There are certainly plenty of case studies out there to back them up. But besides invoking the wisdom of Bob Dylan about times a-changin’, I want to cast light on something that those case studies don’t consider.

The success of the “Heavy Bottle=Better, more premium wine” strategy is wholly dependent on ignorance. It’s a tent propped up with two poles.

Ignorance of what makes a wine truly high quality and premium.
Ignorance of the huge carbon footprint and environmental debt of transporting heavy glass bottles.

Another thing to consider–a flimsy tent is easy to set up. Other, even cheaper, brands can adopt thicker bottles–negating your “competitive” advantage.

Sure, you may fool Joe RandoCustomer on the sales floor with your hefty Bottle A swaying him away from Bottle B. But you can’t escape that the long-term success of this trick depends on sustained ignorance. As soon as any of that ignorance chips away, the tent collapses.

Go back to Haas’ Tablas Creek blog.

Note that it was his loyal (i.e., repeat) customers who were telling him so overwhelmingly how much they hated the heavy bottles. These customers are less likely to be fooled on the sales floor by a heavy bottle because they’ve found plenty of premium wines, like Tablas Creek, that aren’t in those kinds of bottles. The light bulb has “clicked” for them so that pillar of ignorance loses its support.

However, losing that second pillar of ignorance is what’s really going to sink heavy bottles.

With all the talk about sustainability these days, would you really want to place a wager on your customers staying ignorant about wine’s carbon footprint? Or that the vast majority of a winery’s carbon costs come from the packaging and transport of glass bottles?

While glass is 100% recyclable, it does have its share of problems.

Sure, we can talk about cans, pouches and other alternative packages, but I’m not going there today. Instead, I just want wineries to start reading the writing that’s on the wall and the messaging that their customers (both current and future) are getting.

Every day, we see more companies reducing packaging waste. Coca Cola has been making their bottles lighter. The beer and cider industry have adopted “lightweighting”.

And in the wine industry, numerous forward-thinking wineries like Jackson Family Estates, Tablas Creek, Torres and more have long ago shown that, for them, sustainability isn’t a platitude. While they might not aggressively market their lighter bottles as a competitive distinction, there’s going to be wineries that will.

While it’s not just a “Millennial Thing,” it certainly is important to us.

Lots of ink has been wrung worrying about Millennials and Gen Z consumers. The hot question is always when are we going to come around and start adopting wine like previous generations. There is some truth to the optimism that all that my cohorts need is time. However, wineries need to be thinking now about the messaging that they’re sending to these consumers.

Because, yeah, your wine may be great. But so are numerous other wines that similarly want a piece of our wallets. If we have the choice between a wine that speaks to our values and one that doesn’t (or is even hypocritical about it), you know which one has the advantage.

Ignorance may be bliss, but it’s not something I would wager on.

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Want to know the next trends in wine? Follow your stomach

Amber LeBeau in Food Pairing, General, Wine marketing

Published on January 15, 2019

All across the globe, the wine industry is ringing in the new year with prognostications. Everyone has a crystal ball trying to nail down what the next big trends will be.

Some of these predictions bear fruit, while others are just throwing spaghetti at the wall. But in an industry where it takes vines at least three years to be productive and another 1 to 3 to get wine to the market, wineries and retailers need to be a step ahead of the trends.

The difference between success and failure in the wine industry is to be more proactive than you are reactive.

That is what makes trends and prediction articles worth reading–even if you have to take them with a grain of salt.

One recent article by Andy Young of The Shout, an online news service covering Australia, caught my eye. While written from an Aussie perspective, these predictions of Cellarmasters’ Joe Armstrong do hold intriguing relevance to the American market.

First up, Armstrong says that “Cava is the new Prosecco”.

“Our palates are getting fatigued with Prosecco’s fruit-forwardness, so Cava’s dry and biscuity characters are welcome flavours,” he said. — Andy Young, The Shout, 1/7/2019

It wasn’t so much the preference for Cava over Prosecco that surprised me. I’ve been bearish myself about the Prosecco market. I expect its bubble to soon burst as over-expansion and poor quality examples flood the market. Yet it’s not overproduction that has Armstrong and Young seeing Spanish Cava poaching Prosecco’s market share in Australia.

It’s a craving for something drier and less fruity.

Young and Armstrong also predict growth in rosé wine–particularly domestic rosé. But it is not wannabe influencers and #YesWayRosés hashtags that’s fueling its growth. Instead, domestic Aussie rosés are moving towards a style that has been a trademark of French rosé long before anyone made their first duckface on Instagram.

“Due to the popularity of French rosé, more Aussie rosés are being made in that typical, French dry and savoury style. The rise of domestic, dry rosé is a win for consumers as they are affordable and of great quality,” Armstrong said. — Andy Young, The Shout, 1/7/2019

More people definitely need to get on the Italian wine wagon with wines like this crazy delicious Piemontese blend out drinking bottle more than twice its price.

Additionally, Armstrong sees Australian consumers gravitating towards wines coming out of Spain, Portugal and Italy–countries that have been popular picks with prognosticators in the US and UK as well. These folks also see in their crystal balls an uptick of interest in wines from European countries as part of what’s being dubbed “The Year Of The Curious Wine Drinker.”

Why?

Despite the vast diversity of grape varieties and terroirs, there is a common theme among these European wines.

They tend to be dry.
They tend to be savory.

Kind of like the food that we’re eating now.

Mama, this ain’t the Coca-Cola generation anymore

In the US, there is an old marketing adage that Americans “talk dry, but drink sweet.”

For many years, there has undoubtedly been truth to that saying. Mega-corps have sold millions of cases sneaking residual sugar into “dry wines.” But it’s not only faux dry wines that have caught Americans’ fancy. This country was also at the forefront of the recent Moscato boom that is just now starting to wane.

Margaret dear, you know that is shitty stemware to be serving your Sagrantino in.

And why is it waning?

For the same reason that Pepsi and Coke are seeing declining soda sales.

We’re moving away from sweeter flavors towards sourer (acidity), more exotic and savory ones.

Part of it is health consciousness–with the upcoming Generation Z being particularly “sugar conscious.”

But it is also driven by a desire for balance. (Sounds familiar?)

Food and wine, wine and food. Tomayto, Tomahto

In New World regions like Australia and the US, the association of wine and food hasn’t been as culturally ingrained as it has been in Europe. But that’s changing.

However, you don’t need to have wine with food to understand that our taste in cuisine goes hand in hand with our tastes in wine. When we craved sweet, boring dishes, we ate TV dinners and jello pops. We drank with them Blue Nun, Riunite and high alcohol reds.

Now that our tastes are going more savory and exotic, what are we eating?

Mushrooms
Sourdough
Chickpeas
Grilled Meats
Cauliflower
Avocado toast
Dry-aged poultry and pork
Turmeric
Pumpkin

Among many other things.

The Takeaway

Wine doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The beverage that goes into our body has to appeal to the same eyes that see our food, the same noses that perceive aromas and flavors and the same taste buds that respond to umami, sour and sweet flavors.

Wineries that cater to the tastes of the past are going find themselves left in the past. You don’t need a canary to see that American (as well as Australian) tastes are changing.

Likewise, you don’t need a crystal ball to predict what the next big wine trends will be. You just need to follow your stomach.

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A Lot of Sweet But Little ‘Loko’ With Capriccio Bubbly Sangria

Amber LeBeau in Wine marketing, Wine reviews

Published on October 1, 2018

Earlier this summer, social media was abuzz with headlines about the new ‘Four Loko’ that supposedly was causing people to black out and other wild stories. One rumor about how this wine was somehow helping to spread HIV had to be debunked by Snopes.

Now granted, having Snopes deal with wine rumors isn’t too out of the ordinary–see their report on the California wine arsenic scare and the bizarrely bogus “helium-infused wine” video. But still, this was pretty crazy stuff for something that is essentially regular old sangria with a typical wine ABV of 13.9%.

Living on the West Coast, it took a little time for this “wine of the summer” from Florida to make its way to my neck of the woods.

But once it got here, I figured I would try the NV Capriccio Bubbly Sangria from Florida Caribbean Distillers in the same vein of open-mindedness that I tried the Apothic Brew and Mamamango.

So here goes.

The Geekery

Florida Caribbean Distillers was founded in 1943 by Alberto de la Cruz whose family hailed from Cuba. Today the company is managed by Carlos de la Cruz who also leads the leading Coca-Cola bottler for Puerto Rico and Trinidad & Tobago.

The Capriccio line was launched in 2014 and was named by someone, at some point, as the #1 selling sangria in the Caribbean. The wine was first released in the US through Publix grocery stores in the southeast. That was followed soon by Meijer stores in the Midwest.

Photo by GAFRO. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-SA-3.0.

Could there be Florida grown Muscadine grapes in the Capriccio Bubbly Sangria? Who knows?

Finding actual details about the wine is scarce. Like for instance–what grapes are in the wine? In an interview with MensHealth.com, the National Sales Director at Florida Caribbean Distillers claims that the sangria is made with a blend of wine grapes and “100 percent natural fruit juices”.

Coming from Florida, there aren’t many options with only 500 acres of grapes planted–many of them native American varieties like Muscadine or hybrid grapes like Blanc du Bois.

Another source lists the wine as being made in Puerto Rico who does have some Tempranillo and Merlot vines along with white Muscatel that is used for sangrias.

The back label of Capriccio is more forthcoming about the fruit juices in the wine. They list pineapple, pomegranate, orange, lemon, pear, apple, cherry and lime. It is possible that the dark color of Capriccio is coming from the pomegranate and cherry juice component. This would make sense even with a white wine base of Muscatel.

The Wine

Medium intensity nose. It does smell like fresh fruit juices with the cherry, orange and pineapple dominating. No sign of the musky Muscadine note on the nose.

While there is a lot of fresh cut pineapple on the nose, the darker fruits of cherry, orange and pomegranate come out more on the palate.

On the palate, the cherry and orange carry through the most with the pomegranate making its presence known as well. It is very sweet with only the slight spritziness and medium-minus acidity balancing the medium-bodied weight of the fruit.

The “bubbly-ness” is very low, probably no more than 1 atmosphere of pressure. It feels less bubbly than many sodas. Very low tannins add to the grape juice feel of this wine. The moderate finish lasted longer than I expected with a surprisingly fresh fruitiness. No back end heat at all to give evidence of the 13.9% ABV.

The Verdict

For sweet wine fans, I can see how a smooth and easy-drinking style can sneak up on people. They’re probably more used to Moscato wines in the 5-8% ABV range.

Pounding back a couple of 375ml half bottles (the equivalent of two glasses of wine with each bottle) will hit you just as hard as finishing off a full bottle of regular dry red and white wine by yourself. Perhaps even harder with all that sugar in it as well.

But if you treat it like regular wine, drinking in moderation, there is nothing crazy about this at all. At $7-9 for a 750ml bottle and $11-13 for four pack of 375ml bottles (1.5L total), it’s just a fruity and easy-drinking buzz.

In many ways, it reminds me of Mamamango–though that Moscato-Mango hybrid is far less sweet. I can see non-sweet wine fans enjoying the Mamamango on the right occasion (like a light brunch). However, the Capriccio Bubbly Sangria is definitely something for folks with a sweet tooth who don’t like tannins or acidity.