I Tried Every Canned Wine I Could Find — Here’s What I’ll Buy from Now On
published NowI manage a wine store and can tell you one thing with certainty: There are a lot more canned wines on the shelves now than there ever used to be, from established wine brands and trendy newcomers, alike! You’ve probably noticed it too — even just during casual visits to your local wine shop. I wanted to know, though: Are they any good?
I set out to answer this question by buying as many cans of wine as I could find and forcing my colleague to taste them all with me one afternoon. In an effort to remain objective, I had us taste them blind. He had no idea what he was tasting, and I mixed up the cans after I covered them up, so I tasted them semi-blind. (Maybe someday I’ll be able to hire an assistant to do this sort of thing for me.)
After a couple of hours, lots of expletives, and emptying the spit bucket several times, we found a few favorites — and we came up with a few tips for those new to wine in cans. Let’s take a look.
3 Tips for Buying and Enjoying Canned Wine
1. If you don’t love the can you’ve cracked open, use a cup.
Lots of the canned wine we tried had acrid, rubbery aromas reminiscent of tires or sulfur — especially the canned rosé wines. One of the best ways to fix stinky wine is to expose it to air. If you get a canned wine that has a bit of a stink, try pouring it into any glass you can get your hands on and swirling it as vigorously as you can — it’ll definitely help. Or try using a straw and bypass your nose entirely.
2. Really read the can when shopping for white varietals.
My advice when shopping for canned white wine would be to stay away from Chardonnay, favor fruity white blends or Pinot Grigio, and keep an eye out for lower-abv options.
3. Chill your cans of red wines too.
Most of the reds that I found said they should be served chilled, so I chilled all of them for our taste test. Because canned wines are designed for beach trips and outdoor hangs, chilling down all the wine you’re packing, even reds, is a great idea: It will make them more refreshing, and chilled wine can keep anything else that’s in your picnic basket cold. (It’s kind of like your mom packing you a frozen juice box to double as an ice pack.)
The Best Canned Rosé: Brick and Mortar
Our winner in this category was from Brick and Mortar . Most of the wines in this category had a cloying sweetness on the finish that made us feel like we’d have trouble finishing a can. (My colleague described one as tasting like he was drinking it through a Twizzler!) Brick and Mortar was much drier than the other rosés and tasted the most like real wine, both of which are a good thing when you’re looking for a refreshing summer sipper.
Buy : Brick and Mortar , $8.80 at Bottlerocket
The Best Canned White Wine: Anjos Vinho Verde
The winner here was the Anjos Vinho Verde from Portugal, with honorable mention going to the Dark Horse Pinot Grigio . The Anjos is aromatic, fruity, and a bit spritzy. There’s a little sweetness here, but it’s not cloying. Best of all, it’s 9.5% abv, and comes in a 250-milliliter can, a pretty reasonable serving size. Its peachy, tropical fruit flavors are a little confected, but it adds to its whole party-in-a-can vibe. I’d be happy to drink this at the beach or the pool this summer.
Buy : Anjos Vinho Verde , $3.99 at Wine Library
The Dark Horse has nice, clean flavors of fresh pear typical of Pinot Grigio. At its more normal 13.5% abv, it’s not something you’d want to just mindlessly sip at a party like you would a hard seltzer. (Note: The Dark Horse wines do say that a 375-milliliter can equals half a bottle of wine right there on the can, which is smart. I wish more brands with cans this size would do this.)
Buy : Dark Horse Pinot Grigio , $5.99 at Drizly
The Best Canned Red Wine: Santa Julia Tintillo
The winner here was the Santa Julia Tintillo , a Bonarda and Malbec blend from Argentina. It’s a medium-bodied red that would stand up to burgers or heartier summer dishes, but it’s got enough bright fruit flavor and acidity that it doesn’t feel too heavy for a hot day. If you like inexpensive Spanish and Portugese reds, you’ll love this.
Buy : Santa Julia Tintillo , $6.99 at Sky’s Beverage Depot
Honorable mention goes to the Dark Horse Pinot Noir . A ripe California Pinot, its flavors of black cherry and vanilla would lend themselves to being drunk a little warmer than refrigerator temperature, but it was pretty good cold, too.
Buy : Dark Horse Pinot Noir , $4.99
Both of these red come in 375-milliliter cans, which again, is half a bottle of wine, in a vessel that most of us think of as single-serving. There isn’t a great way to seal a can if you don’t finish one — I would know, because I currently have a few dozen open cans of wine in my refrigerator. My tip: Pour these into glasses and share with someone if you can!
Cans are a great package for beverages: They’re lightweight, portable, and of all the things we throw into our recycling bins, aluminum is one of the more likely options to actually be recycled! I’m glad to see so many more good-quality options available, and if smaller sizes become a thing, I’ll really be in heaven.
Do you have a favorite canned wine? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Diane McMartin
Contributor
Diane is a wine consultant, educator, and author of This Calls For A Drink. She is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America's Wine and Beverage Certificate Program and a Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers.
Source : food
Posting Komentar
Posting Komentar