Being the die hard Beatles fan that I am (there….I said it), I read with great interest yesterday about the new re-mastered edition that is about to hit the airwaves.  From what I have read, updated technology has allowed for nuances in the music to emerge that allow the audiophile to enjoy the music as the Beatles heard it while recording in studio.  While I own a stash of original Beatles albums and I cherish the nostalgia they bring to me, I would not return to the old days of music delivery for anything.  I’ll take enhanced “purity” anyday.  So what does this have to do with wine, you ask?

There is an analogous debate ongoing about housing wine in traditional glass bottles, as they have been for centuries, versus modern day plastic.  It’s a debate that centers around tradition, perception and, of course, quality and irks, to no end, the ire of traditionalists.  Their protests are loud and clear.

“ How can you defame a fine wine by placing it in plastic?  What would our ancestors say?  And then you add insult to injury by closing it with a screw cap?? And what about that awful plastic taste?  And how will you age the wine?  A first growth Bordeaux in PLASTIC at auction!!!  You are insulting the wine….blah, blah, blah….”  Well, sometimes progress supplants elements of tradition and for the better of the end product.  Let’s examine the rational behind the developing change.

There are three primary incentives for housing wine in plastic.  The first is its weight and shape.  Because plastic weighs a fraction of a glass and takes up less space, it allows for winemakers to save on fuel transport expenses.  As well, if plastic bottles cost less that savings, potentially, could be passed on to consumers.  From a retailer vantage point, if he can purchase a one liter plastic wine bottle for the same price as the standard 750ml glass bottle, don’t you think that he will?  It enables him to serve more glasses per bottle.  And he won’t have to worry about ever breaking a bottle again.  If you drop it, it bounces!!  Third, there are real, documented considerations about the environmental impact on “carbon footprints” in manufacturing, transporting and disposing of glass bottles versus plastic.

The manufacturing process of a glass wine bottle produces several times the CO2 of a plastic bottle.  Transporting glass bottles, assuming that the weight of the wine itself is equivalent, results in the generation of about 1.8 times more CO2 than for plastic.  The disposal process gets a bit complicated here as there is a larger calling for recycled glass in wine bottles than for plastic.  If you assume, in the most fictitious case, that all wine bottles are made with 100% recycled glass, that actually reduces the carbon footprint when compared to new glass.  Also, let’s assume that all plastic from wine bottles were to be recycled to generate electricity which adds to the carbon footprint.  However, when you add up all of the manufacturing components, glass produces more CO2 per “bottle” than does plastic.

What about the earlier stated protests about storing wine in plastic?  Let’s take them one at a time.  As for the argument questioning the taste of the wine, I have not seen any convincing evidence that wine poured from plastic containers taste any different than wine from a glass bottle.  Retailers and restaurant servers claim, from what I have read, that consumers cannot taste the difference between a serving of wine from a glass bottle versus a plastic container.  The plastic used in manufacturing wine bottles does not appear to alter the taste (full confession, here….I have tasted only one wine from a plastic container).

Aging wines in plastic bottles opens a valid debate at this point.  These bottles are not considered to be as air tight and secure as a glass bottle with a screw cap (they do have a special protective layer applied to prevent oxygen from permeating the plastic container for a “window” of time).  As a result, plastic manufacturers imprint a “use by” date similar to that on a milk carton.  I can hear the protests, “ now you equate a glass wine bottle with a milk carton….blasphemy!!!”  As most of the wine sold in this country is consumed within months, if not days, this is not a wine quality issue.

That leaves the psychological aspect of pouring and drinking wine from a plastic bottle.  As alluded to at the beginning of this piece, while I do have a nostalgic attachment for “the good ole days,” I much prefer to improve on the quality of the product or experience and leave the nostalgia to my waning memory.  I have no reservations about drinking wine from a plastic bottle in the near term as long as the quality remains up to vintner standards.   By the way, I feel the same with regard to screw cap closures versus corks.   

On the other hand, I am not ready to order an expensive first growth Bordeaux or rare Burgundy in plastic, knowing that it must be laid down for years.  We don’t have long term studies that address the aging of fine wine stored in plastic for 20+ years.  While the issue of oxidation seems to have been addressed successfully over the near term, it seems safe to say that we are still some years away from resolving long term storage questions.

So, in the end, I really don’t much care much about whether the wine is housed in glass or plastic.  For me, it’s about the quality of the end product (wine) and not how it’s wrapped (glass or plastic).  I guess I feel the same way about the old vinyl records versus modern day CDs.  I cherish the feeling that that the old plastic brings to me, the memories, the nostalgia of that era, the antiquity and authenticity expressed through a simple needle.  I can’t help but listen to a Beatles song cut from an album and not think about the influence that it had on my life.  But in the end, nothing replaces the quality and the purity of their music.  If progress results in “purifying” their end product, then bring it on.

Likewise, if current technology can maintain or even improve upon purity of aroma and flavor of a wine, while enhancing our eco-friendly life……bring it on!!  Meanwhile, let us know what  your experience has been with wine in plastic containers by sharing your thoughts in our Wine Inquirer Community Forum.

Tags: glass bottles, plastic bottles