Comments on: No Need to Uncork: Draft Wines Are Gaining Favor

By: Steve Weinberg

Steve Weinberg — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:15:39 +0000

Great Article. Unfortunately there are still some states that have Prohibition Era -container size restrictions that prevent Draft wine ie. Florida. The largest allowable bottle is a 3 Liter. When I asked the ATF if Kegs could be filled from three liter bottles they said it is illegal to “marry” wines into different containers for re-sale. The only solution for now is to use 3 liter Bag in the Box and dispense from the individual unit. Hopefully the quality of BIB will continue to grow so that it becomes a viable option for on-premise sales.

By: Kathy Hunt

Kathy Hunt — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:41:58 +0000

Thanks Kat! That’s a great point that hadn’t been raised among the vintners with whom I’d spoken. While the cost-saving aspect of keg wine is a tremendous selling point, the opportunity for consumers to try small batches of exceptional wines is invaluable. Thanks for taking the time to share that!

By: Kat McDonald

Kat McDonald — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:34:06 +0000

As a vintner that kegs wine one of the most important aspects of it – to me – is being missed. I can now bring to the consumer small lots of exceptional wine that would be cost prohibitive to bottle. The act of firing up the bottling line and printing labels does not make sense unless you are doing hundreds (or thousands of cases) of a particular wine. If you want to make 50 cases of a wine it is hard to do for less then $50 a bottle. NOT if I can keg it. We can now have monthly small lot keg runs of amazing, interesting, unique offerings and when they are gone – they are gone. The response from restaurants has been overwhelmingly positive.