Friday, April 25, 2008
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere #8: Plastic wine bottles -- the horror
I walked into the local LCBO with the intent to buy two bottles of wine for a gathering with friends that evening, and as I strolled through the automatic door, I was greeted with a common liquor store sighting. Standing behind a small podium-like table, a woman was offering customers samples of a red and a white wine.
It's my custom not to approach these people asking for samples, but if they ask me if I want to try whatever they're currently shilling, then I don't turn them down (I'm such a lush). This day, the woman called out to me and asked if I'd like to try an Australian wine.
Sure, why not? I nodded my consent and then struck up a conversation with the wine peddler. While I can't recall what the wine was, I do recall she was offering a red and a white (again, specifics aren't coming to me -- I think the red was a Shiraz). As regular readers and friends are probably aware, I'm more of a red wine drinker than a white wine drinker, so I asked to sample the red. She poured a small sample and I gave it a taste.
It wasn't bad, but it didn't blow me away. It also seemed like she was serving it a touch too cool, so it was difficult to truly get the nuances of the flavours. At about fifteen bucks a bottle, I figured it wasn't a half-bad buy, but I'd come into the store with the idea of buying two bottles of the Painted Turtle Shiraz.
At this point, I became aware that the wines had screw tops. Odd. I know screw tops are becoming more common, but there's still this snobbish attitude in me that turns up its nose at screw tops. Give me cork or even synthetic cork, but screw tops? I can deal with that for a cheap, fruity wine, but it strikes me as uncouth for what is supposed to be a finer wine.
The woman picked up the bottle to show me.
"See? It's a screw top, and the bottle's not glass." It looked like glass, but then she squeezed it. "It's plastic."
I cringed. Screw tops and a plastic bottle? You've got to be kidding me.
I think the wine peddler saw my interest in the wine fade to nothing before her very eyes.
"This is the way the industry is moving," she said. All (or at least most) wines are apparently going to be moving in this direction.
"That really takes away the ritual of wine," I said.
She agreed with me, but then explained that the reason for the move to plastic bottles is because it's better for the environment.
"Plastic bottles are better for the environment than glass?" I asked. Actually, it was more of a skeptical question than a true question. What I really wanted to say was, "I call bullshit," but it was neither the time nor the place for such a comment.
I'd stumped her. She agreed she didn't understand how it was better for the environment, either.
"And unless they're using food-grade plastic, wouldn't the taste of the plastic seep into the wine?" I asked. Rich and I have had several conversations about putting alcohol in plastic bottles, and I had flashbacks to those discussions.
She again couldn't really understand it.
"They must have done their research or they wouldn't be in business," she said. Translation: She really didn't have any clue and was guessing.
I'm trying not to be hard on the woman. She was just an LCBO employee stuck showing off a product that oenophiles are going to be highly skeptical of -- and it's clear she didn't have enough information to actually discuss the benefits (if there are any, besides the winery saving money because plastic is cheaper than glass) of plastic bottles.
I thanked her for the sample and walked away, assuring her I'd think about buying a bottle of the wine (and I really did consider it for a moment, but $14.95 for a plastic bottle of wine with a screw cap seemed a bit pricey, especially since the wine wasn't anything spectacular). I headed right for the wine section. As I wandered up and down the aisles, glancing at the various wines on the shelves, I spotted several other plastic bottles. Even the wine I had come for was out in two varieties -- a standard glass wine bottle version and a squatter, plastic version.
Naturally, I chose the glass bottles. I was having dinner that night with at least two wine drinkers, and it would be an embarrassment to show up with wine in plastic bottles (granted, Painted Turtle is probably not considered top-notch wine, anyway, but the point remains). Besides, with a choice, especially since the prices were the same, I wasn't going to settle for plastic when I could have glass (with a cork in it, even).
While in the store (and even now), I wondered if the LCBO was testing the idea of marketing plastic wine bottles to see what its customers would do. I hope the message sent to the LCBO is "piss off with your damn plastic," but I have a feeling the woman who poured my sample is right -- the industry probably is going this way.
It's my custom not to approach these people asking for samples, but if they ask me if I want to try whatever they're currently shilling, then I don't turn them down (I'm such a lush). This day, the woman called out to me and asked if I'd like to try an Australian wine.
Sure, why not? I nodded my consent and then struck up a conversation with the wine peddler. While I can't recall what the wine was, I do recall she was offering a red and a white (again, specifics aren't coming to me -- I think the red was a Shiraz). As regular readers and friends are probably aware, I'm more of a red wine drinker than a white wine drinker, so I asked to sample the red. She poured a small sample and I gave it a taste.
It wasn't bad, but it didn't blow me away. It also seemed like she was serving it a touch too cool, so it was difficult to truly get the nuances of the flavours. At about fifteen bucks a bottle, I figured it wasn't a half-bad buy, but I'd come into the store with the idea of buying two bottles of the Painted Turtle Shiraz.
At this point, I became aware that the wines had screw tops. Odd. I know screw tops are becoming more common, but there's still this snobbish attitude in me that turns up its nose at screw tops. Give me cork or even synthetic cork, but screw tops? I can deal with that for a cheap, fruity wine, but it strikes me as uncouth for what is supposed to be a finer wine.
The woman picked up the bottle to show me.
"See? It's a screw top, and the bottle's not glass." It looked like glass, but then she squeezed it. "It's plastic."
I cringed. Screw tops and a plastic bottle? You've got to be kidding me.
I think the wine peddler saw my interest in the wine fade to nothing before her very eyes.
"This is the way the industry is moving," she said. All (or at least most) wines are apparently going to be moving in this direction.
"That really takes away the ritual of wine," I said.
She agreed with me, but then explained that the reason for the move to plastic bottles is because it's better for the environment.
"Plastic bottles are better for the environment than glass?" I asked. Actually, it was more of a skeptical question than a true question. What I really wanted to say was, "I call bullshit," but it was neither the time nor the place for such a comment.
I'd stumped her. She agreed she didn't understand how it was better for the environment, either.
"And unless they're using food-grade plastic, wouldn't the taste of the plastic seep into the wine?" I asked. Rich and I have had several conversations about putting alcohol in plastic bottles, and I had flashbacks to those discussions.
She again couldn't really understand it.
"They must have done their research or they wouldn't be in business," she said. Translation: She really didn't have any clue and was guessing.
I'm trying not to be hard on the woman. She was just an LCBO employee stuck showing off a product that oenophiles are going to be highly skeptical of -- and it's clear she didn't have enough information to actually discuss the benefits (if there are any, besides the winery saving money because plastic is cheaper than glass) of plastic bottles.
I thanked her for the sample and walked away, assuring her I'd think about buying a bottle of the wine (and I really did consider it for a moment, but $14.95 for a plastic bottle of wine with a screw cap seemed a bit pricey, especially since the wine wasn't anything spectacular). I headed right for the wine section. As I wandered up and down the aisles, glancing at the various wines on the shelves, I spotted several other plastic bottles. Even the wine I had come for was out in two varieties -- a standard glass wine bottle version and a squatter, plastic version.
Naturally, I chose the glass bottles. I was having dinner that night with at least two wine drinkers, and it would be an embarrassment to show up with wine in plastic bottles (granted, Painted Turtle is probably not considered top-notch wine, anyway, but the point remains). Besides, with a choice, especially since the prices were the same, I wasn't going to settle for plastic when I could have glass (with a cork in it, even).
While in the store (and even now), I wondered if the LCBO was testing the idea of marketing plastic wine bottles to see what its customers would do. I hope the message sent to the LCBO is "piss off with your damn plastic," but I have a feeling the woman who poured my sample is right -- the industry probably is going this way.
// posted by Chris @ 4:18 PM 
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