Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 8

Fi ned &
FI LT ER ED

The

C A N NI NG L I NE
by KAREN MONEY MAKER

As canned wines gain momentum, everyone from natty wine producers to Trader Joe's
is getting in on the game. But, as our recent tasting made clear (see page 46), packaging
wine in a can presents a different set of challenges than bottling it.

"I wanted to do a Charmat
method sparkler, like a
Prosecco, but 375-milliliter
cans only hold up to three
atmospheres-a frizzante
style. So, 250-milliliter cans
seemed like the logical step to
get the higher pressure."
-Thomas Pastuszak

WINE & SPIRITS

But we tasted out of glasses, at room temperature.
Our findings weren't based on an intrinsic bias; they
were based on our reactions to the wines in the glass.
Josh Schaffner works with Ninth Planet Beverage
Solutions, a mobile canning line that got its start with
the craft beer movement and has expanded to canning wine. They use Ball products, the industry standard (and the same Ball that produces canning jars).
He told me that while the lining of the can is proprietary, Ball requires that all wines be tested for their
interaction with that liner. "It's called corrosivity testing," he said. "It takes about three weeks, and they
performed this test free of charge."
According to Melanie Edwards Virreira, director
of strategy and marketing at Ball, who responded via
email, "The tests we perform are for structural compatibility only, i.e., how the wine affects the structure of the can, and are the same analyses we perform on all new beverages getting packaged in cans.
The tests...ensure the can is able to hold the beverage for a specified period of time without corrosion.
Through years of canning a variety of wines, we have
found that every wine evolves and behaves differently
in the can, just as they do in other packaging formats. We have seen variances even within the same
varietal and across vintages. We have a wide range of
both red wines and white wines that are successfully
packaged in cans."
Still, according to Schaffner, "The corrosivity test
is what tells you whether or not the can lining can
withstand the beverage in the can and for how long,
and [some] red wines are much more aggressive than
[most] whites are." So, even if a red wine passes the
corrosivity test, it still may be reacting with the lining of the can. In other words, it's best not to age red
wine in a can.
THE RED WINE CONUNDRUM
In our small sample set, the sparkling wines, whites
We did find both fresh, chillable, unoaked reds and
and rosés were far more successful in cans than still oak-aged styles that were successful, but the lower-pH
reds. When questioned about this, several producers sparklers and whites had a better batting average. If
noted that people are used to drinking cold, carbon- you're looking for the convenience of wine in a can,
ated beverages, not red wine, out of cans.
your best best is to pop the top on some bubbles. n
Like other canners, Faith Armstrong of Onward and
Farmstrong Wines has worked to find the right level
of sulfur on the canning line. She thinks some of the
original issues with wine in cans had to do with sulfur levels that were more appropriate to cork-finished
bottles. So, she did some tests and found that it was
important to include some sulfur, but at lower levels. "With cork, you are going to have some transfer of oxygen across that cork," she points out, "and
people use sulfur to promote freshness as the wine
ages. With a can, there is absolutely no transfer of
anything. It's a fully sealed vessel. There's no oxygen
getting in; there's nothing getting in or out of that
can." So, too much sulfur can create reductive compounds, which lend the wines off odors.
Thomas Pastuszak, who leads the wine program
at NYC's NoMad, recalls his first experiences with
canning wine when he set out to produce Vinny,
his sparkling wine in cans. "I realized that to make
a wine that is balanced once it is effervescent, the
wine itself would need to be a little bit more generous, so when you carbonate, it does not become too
shrill or thin. When you add carbonation, it basically
thins out the wine. You get the benefit of the crispness
and the freshness, but you need to have a little bit
more stuffing in the wine to begin with. So, that was
one really important learning curve." He also chose
a 250-millimeter can that would hold the pressure he
hoped to sustain in the wine.
Even in still wines, there's a challenge in getting the
right pressure on the can wall, as Jake Stover of Sans
Wine in Napa Valley pointed out: "It's really important to get the liquid nitrogen dosing right, to force
out any oxygen," which helps to avoid "squishy" cans.

JUNE 2019

Wine & Spirits - June 2019

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