Go ahead, crack open a can of wine

By J.M. HIRSCH
The Associated Press

last updated: September 15, 2007 04:36:47 AM

First there was the plastic stopper. Then the box. Then the screw cap. Now comes the soda can.

Efforts to find better ways to package wine generally have focused on eliminating the cork, a natural material that unfortunately can taint wine with a harmless but distasteful bacteria.

Now an Argentinean company is ditching the bottle, too. Based in Buenos Aires, Iron Wine offers red (a malbec-cabernet blend) and white (chenin blanc) wines in 8½- and 12-ounce cans (three of the former equal a standard bottle of wine).

Yes, they look just like soda cans. And it's not as crazy as it sounds. Noting that many wines are aged in steel vats, the company says cans are the perfect container because they so effectively block out light and air.

Boxed wines have similar benefits, but have been slow to catch on with consumers. That's partly because they are -- often unfairly -- associated with plonk, or inferior, wines, but also because they are so large.

Iron Wine's smaller cans make them perfect for picnics or other times when carrying a whole bottle or large box isn't convenient.

But ignore the advice on the can that says a glass isn't needed.

Drinking the wine from the can produces an unpleasantly tinny taste that disappears once the wine is poured into a glass.

Now the bad news -- Iron Wine isn't yet available in the United States. The company says it is working on it.

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