Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Plastic Wine Bottles?

Many people won't buy wine in a box. So, would they buy wine in a plastic bottle?

The Daily Mail has an article discussing that the store Sainsbury's, in Great Britian, will soon start selling a couple wines in plastic bottles. The Australians though were the first to bottle some wines in this fashion.

One benefit of the plastic bottles is that they are recyclable and thus good for the environment. They also weight significantly less than glass bottles, 2 ounces as opposed to 14 ounces. So, a case of wine in plastic bottles would weigh 144 ounces (about 9 pounds) less than a case of glass bottles.

For now, only a few inexpensive wines will be bottled in plastic. But, if they sell well, then other wines might be bottled so as well. I am not sure whether many people would be willing to buy plastic wine bottles. It might be fine for a picnic or so, but probably not for elsewhere.

There is a potential problem of chemicals in the plastic tainting the wine, though there is not much information on that danger.

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