You demanded wine options. Winemakers heard you and new options—some might call them marketing gimmicks—are being created as fast as they can be dreamed up.
Moving away from 750 ml bottles is a big trend. Wine now comes in once-rare sizes and materials: 375 ml (two pours), 187 ml (one pour) containers—and there are more sizes. They come in traditional glass bottles, plastic bottles, cans, pouches, and even tetra packs usually associated with milk and juice cartons.
Imagination also goes into what goes into the containers. Wander + Ivy, for instance, markets wines created using certified organic grapes from family-owned wineries around the world. The 187 ml container is glass, the closure is plastic. They offer a chardonnay and a cabernet sauvignon from California, a rosé from France, a red blend from Spain, and a pinot bianco from Italy. They sell in 8, 16, and 24-bottle sets at around $8.50 a bottle. Acceptable wine and pricey for the pour, but works if you are a one-glass person.
just enough (lower case name) is a similar play. Their wines come in 250 ml cans sold in six-packs, which is the equivalent of two standard bottles. Your choices include a red blend, a rosé, a chardonnay, and a brut sparkling. All from California. The cost is around $45 a six-pack.
Bonterra offers 250 ml cans of their organically produced sparkling rosé, sparkling brut, sauvignon blanc, and rosé. All from California. The sparkling is sold in single cans for $5, the still wines in four-can packs for $18.
Ubiquitous supermarket wine 19 Crimes offers four-packs of 187 ml plastic bottles of their red blend and their hard chardonnay for $10-12 a pack.
All these deliver acceptable wine. You will not get sublime, but you will not get plonk. Several other brands are available—Private Beach (four 200 ml cans), Kim Crawford (two 500 ml cans), Domaine Chandon Brut Rosé (187 ml bottles), and Sofia (four 187 ml cans). For some wine drinkers, less is more.
Tasting notes:
• Sebastiani Sonoma Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2020: Bright, lively, and refreshing. $14-17 Link to my review
• Klinker Brick Bricks & Roses Rosé, Lodi 2021: Provence-style, but even lighter and airier. $15-19 Link to my review
• Daou Vineyards Bodyguard 2019: Elegant, opulent, sophisticated, intense in color and flavor. $35-40 Link to my review
Last round: The trouble with people who consider themselves “self-made” is they tend to worship their creator. Wine time.