EXCLUSIVE How tap wine became trendy: Swanky bars are choosing kegs over bottles in unlikely u-turn - 20 years after Wetherspoon set the trend Tapped wine has become trendy with bars across the UK offering it READ MORE: Japanese whisky is declared better than Scotch By Bridie Pearson-jones For Mailonline Published: 07:16, 30 August 2024 | Updated: 07:20, 30 August 2024 e-mail View comments For years, wine from a tap, can or bag was looked down upon in sommelier circles. Oenophiles have long turned their noses up at any wine that isn't from a glass bottle, but now the tide is slowly turning - with trendy pubs and bars across the UK serving up reds and whites from the tap. And i'ts not just pubs, people are drinking more canned and boxed wine at home - with the global market for tinned wine expected to reach $312 billion in the next ten years.
Canned brand Most Wanted Wines is now the UK's biggest branded single-serve wine. Another brand, Vinca, is selling more than two million cans per year in upmarket supermarkets like Whole Foods and Planet Organic. Nice wine, a London based wine company that prides themselves on being 'unpretentious' say they are on a mission to redefine the way the world wines with canned, boxed, and low ABV and wine on tap.
Oenophiles have long turned their noses up at any wine that isn't from a glass bottle, but now the tide is slowly turning - with trendy pubs and bars across the UK serving up reds and whites from the tap (stock image) Lucy Busk, Co-Founder of Nice wine told Femail; 'Boxed wine stays fresh for six weeks after opening, kegged wine stays fresh for three months upon opening and we have grown our sales by over 100 per cent this year. 'We have over 60 taps across pubs, restaurants, travel, venues and stadia. 'The main benefit to sites is that freshness I mentioned, the speed of service, not having to deal with glass bottles and also no wastage which is a game changer (we have some hospitality stockists who have told us that we're saving sites thousands of pounds each year in not having to throw away half-finished bottles of wine).
' Summer 2024 also saw Nice's canned wines roll out nationwide across ASDA, Morrisons, Co-Op, WHSmith Travel and Wizz Air, totalling more than 2,500 new distribution points. Many landlords are looking and canned and keg wine to reduce waste - as it stays fresher for longer than from a bottle. And while tapped wine is a fairly new phenomena in trendy bars, one popular pub chain has been 20 years ahead of the curve.
Eddie Gershon, a spokesperson for J.D. Wetherspoon, told Femail the pub chain, which has around 800 venues in the UK, has been 'serving tapped line for 20 years,'.
'The wine was originally produced for us by Fetzer winery, based in Mendocino in Northern California . Fetzer was the wine producer that invented the famous Sundial Chardonnay - the wine which many believe popularised the bold, buttery style of new world Chardonnay which dominated the 90's. 'At one stage our wine shippers told us that Wetherspoon accounted for around 40 per cent of all Californian wine sold in restaurants throughout Europe.
' Today, the chain has drinks produced in Chile. Many landlords are looking and canned and keg wine to reduce waste - as it stays fresher for longer than from a bottle 'There are a number of benefits of wine on tap. The main one is that no oxygen can get into the system.
Oxygen kills wine - it's why a red wine, held at room temperature, will taste 'off' within 24 hours. Even with a 'Vac-u-Vin' the oxygen can do its worst! 'The second benefit is that the wine is served at the correct temperature. And another benefit is that far fewer sulphates, which can often be added to wine to keep the liquid stable, are required for tap wine because the container is much larger than a bottle'.
And it's not just the big chains. Little Cellars, a trendy bar in Camberwell, south London, also sells wine on tap. Read More Is your summer pint actually a sugary alcopop? Expert says dozens of the ciders sold in the UK 'aren't real' as they contain up to 41g of sugar Ben McVeigh-Whitaker, Co-founder of Little Cellars told Femail that tap wine is much better for the environment.
'95 per cent of the world's wines are consumed within a year of production, so what's the point of putting it in a glass bottle, which is heavy and consumes resources in terms of production and transport, when a glass bottle is only useful in terms of long-term ageing?,' he explained. 'Wine from keg can taste much better in a restaurant setting, we can serve the wines at the perfect temperature because of the cooling system we use, and the keg ensures that all the wine stays in tip-top condition when we are serving them. 'Unlike a glass bottle where as soon as you open it the wine will slowly decrease in quality.
'From a consumer perspective, you can have a can at a more sensible serving, say 250ml, where you can drink the wine all at once and not have to worry about preserving some of the bottle for later.' In terms of sustainability, he added: 'Glass consumes huge resources in terms of production, transport (its so heavy!), and recycling. Kegs in particular are a far more efficient way of shipping, and cans consume less energy in production and when recyclable.
'Undoubtedly the perception of alternative formats is in question in the public eye, but perhaps because we all previously associated it with €2 bag-in-box from mistaken holiday purchases. From Lucy Busk, Co-Founder of Nice wine told Femail; 'Boxed wine stays fresh for six weeks after opening, kegged wine stays fresh for three months upon opening and we have grown our sales by over 100 per cent this year. Their range is pictured 'The world has moved on and we are now seeing some of the world's best wines being packaged in alternative formats, with no detriment to the quality.
There is no reason why a wine designed for near-time consumption should not be bottled in a keg or a can. 'We have had wine-on-tap installed at Peckham Cellars for more than four years now, and whilst at the start there where some questions, the quality has won out and it is now a vital part of our operation.' And boxed wine is also seeing a comeback.
Waitrose has seen sales wine boxes increase 18 per cent this year. This follows an annual increases of 11 per cent in 2023 and nine per cent in 2022. Bag-in-a-box wine earned a reputation for being cheap - and bad - in the 1980s when bad Australian plonk was imported to the UK.
Rob Malin of When in Rome, a retailer that specialises in alternative formats of wine, told the Times that the UK said that Britain was following the lead of France, where 45 per cent of supermarket wine is sold in boxes. 'Bag in box wine had a big false start in the UK. A lot of plonk came over from Australia and it gave it a bad name,' he said.
Read More How Gen Z are ditching cheap alcohol for posh wine 'In France, they didn't have this problem. They improved technology. They began to sell high-quality wine in boxes.
' Some critics have even argued for a tax cut for alternative packaging - arguing that glass bottles take a lot of energy to transport and recycle. Anna Parker - co-owner and managing director at Celentano's, an Italian-inspired restaurant in Glasgow, said that keg wine 'significantly reduces wastage' at her Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant. ' We definitely still see some negative perceptions from customers regarding wine in kegs,' she said.
'However, we only stock high-quality kegged wines - from Unchartered - which range from a simple Italian white blend to a complex but delicious English white Ortega from Kent. 'Serving wine from kegs significantly reduces our wine wastage, as the wine keeps for much longer, and hugely minimises our glass recycling. If we do have any wine wastage, we'll always find other uses for it in dishes prepared in the kitchen.
'Ultimately, by stocking wine in kegs, it allows our guests to enjoy a glass of wine poured straight from the tap, that's much fresher than one served from an open bottle. 'The only wine you won't find on tap at Celentano's is sparkling wines, as we find they don't sit as well in a keg.' Jane Cook, the founder of the Cardiff Wine Passport, said lots of venues in the Welsh capital include wine 'served on tap'.
'We have seen a number of venues on the Cardiff Wine Passport scheme choosing to include a wine that is served on tap - particularly those serving 'natural' wines. 'As the hospitality venues we work with need to provide wines by the 125ml glass to be part of the scheme, serving a wine on tap means they can enjoy dramatically reduced wastage due to oxidation - but they would also experience a cost saving and reduction in emissions (compared to shipping wine in heavy glass; a plastic 20 litre keg of wine holds the equivalent of almost 27 glass wine bottles).' Jessica Summer who is founder of Mouse & Grape, a luxury cheese and wine business specialising in hampers and tasting events told Femail said it's 'a win-win for both hospitality business owners and customers'.
'The quality of wines in these formats, especially fruity wines designed to be enjoyed young, is exceptional. For instance, I highly recommend Canned Wine Co. and Laylo for their top-notch offerings.
'Boxed wines, in particular, have the advantage of staying fresher for longer, reducing waste, while canned wines provide convenient, smaller serving sizes. Canned and boxed wine is also surging. Pictured Nice wine range 'Additionally, serving wine on tap is more economical, making it a smart choice for house wines bringing down the price for consumers helping to create a loyal customer base.
' However, Jim Dawson wine expert at House of Assets told Femail he has doubts of wine quality from kegs. 'There really is no benefit of serving wine in a box, keg or can other than to the landlord or venue as wines produced in this way are often the cheaper end of the market and therefore it gives the venue a better profit margin. 'Also storage capacity for some establishments may find this takes up less space than wine bottles and therefore more convenient to them.
'However, there are machines which have become really popular called an enomatic which is a wine dispenser that serves wine by the glass or by the ounce. 'Wine dispensers are very useful as you can serve guests in one-ounce increments, and these are far superior as these blanket the wine in a gas which then keeps much fresher rather than in keg, a can or a box. 'Tradition for the individual is still very much a bottle of wine where you are more in control of what you drink, it can be refrigerated, put a cork back on and enjoy over four days whilst staying fresh.
'Pressured kegs, is a popular choice for hospitality venues but this will never be a good quality wine. A good quality wine will always be bottled at source. 'Wines in a can are now very popular for and for groups of friends picnicking, heading to the beach, having a BBQ, or going to a festival.
Due to the fact they are portable, convenient, lighter to carry with the plus point being you can now get a fairly good quality wine in a can these days. 'Trends change, for example, the screw top which launched 40 years ago was then seen as the sign of a cheap wine but today is seen as a good quality wine. 'With wine in a box- when they first came on the market, you could stick in the fridge and it would still be okay days later.
It might be beach goers or festival attendees, and can be enjoyed at home. in my opinion as a wine expert you still can't beat a good quality wine in a bottle.' London Share or comment on this article: How tap wine became trendy: Swanky bars are choosing kegs over bottles in unlikely u-turn - 20 years after Wetherspoon set the trend e-mail Add comment.
