Wine On Tap Means You'll Never Look At Your Favorite Vintage The Same Way Again “What do you have on tap?” This is a common question we ask when wondering which beers are offered at a bar or restaurant. Here I am, a newly published author of The Right Bottle: A Simple Guide For Selecting Wine, and I find myself asking the same question. That’s not much of a surprise though, as I use the methodology of putting the occasion and my intentions into consideration for selecting wine. And sometimes that means passing on wine and choosing a beer instead. But it seems as if our options will soon increase when asking what’s on tap. No, I’m not talking about more beers being served. Rather, your question might be answered with another question: “Would you like a beer or a wine?” Multiple sources agree that wines on tap offer substantial advantages on several levels, benefiting all, from winery to restaurant to the consumer. It all makes sense, too. Like beer, wines on tap are stored in stainless steel kegs.

A standard keg holds 19.5L, equivalent to 26 bottles of wine. That’s 26 less glass bottles, less labeling, less packaging, less weight on shipping, less carbon footprint. This is what our generation thrives on: new, environmentally friendly, reduced-cost alternatives for providing equal, if not better, quality products and services. beer and wine nearbyIn an article from Food & Wine magazine, founder and CEO Jordan Kivelstadt, of Free Flow Wines (Napa, Calif.), was quoted as saying, “Bottles are a flawed delivery mechanism. best wine deals on internetFor hundreds of years, we’ve been shoving dead tree bark into glass and saying that’s the best way to hold wine. line 39 wine reviewKegs don’t break, are reusable for over 20 years and are not thrown away in the trash, which lessens the waste of all those empty bottles that fail to get recycled from the restaurant industry; best wine for under 20 dollars

believe me, that’s a lot of bottles. So, even Earth can benefit from wines on tap. Apparently, this is nothing new, though. Wines on tap have a history in Europe, and a failed history in the United States. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the American public didn’t take well to wines on tap, as it was during the 1970s and several factors, including haphazard equipment and practices to maintain the quality of the wine, most likely lead to its demise. best ever wine cakeToday, that has changed. best rated box wineWinemakers and several startups, going back to 2005, have been making strives to bring back the concept. best wine country rentalsBetter equipment, along with a better understanding of installing tap systems, washing and sanitizing kegs, filling and refilling kegs and dispensing wine is giving the industry (wineries and restaurants) confidence that their consumers are being poured the same quality wine as would come from a bottle, from the first pour to the last glass. glass of wine full bottle

What does this mean for you, the consumer? Considering that wines sold by the glass can account for as much as 80% of wines sold in restaurants, it can mean a lot. For starters, the wine stays fresh, as the gases used to push the wine through also serves as a protective blanket inside the keg, preventing any oxygen from coming into contact with the wine (which also benefits the restaurant by eliminating any bottles that may have been open for days). wine and food coupon“What it enables us to do is put wine on the machine, and it will keep them absolutely fresh for three weeks,” says Rolf Nelson, who owns and operates The Lumber Yard (Amherst, Mass.), in an interview with the Valley Advocate. It can also mean that you will get more cost effective options, should the restaurant decide to offer different size pours, including higher priced wines. How To Truly Appreciate Wine (Without Becoming A Snob) Trending News: Don't Serve Wine In These Glasses Unless You Want Your Guests To Drink You Dry

How To Choose A Beer Tap System For Your Next Kegger The Only 7 Pieces Of Clothing You Need To Update This Spring 7-Year-Old Asks Google Boss For A Job, Gets A Response Jump to: navigation, search Wine on Tap is a distribution method for wine. Instead of distributing via the bottle, wine is housed in stainless steel kegs or disposable one way kegs. After the barreling stage, the wine is transferred into the kegs holding about 27 bottles of wine each (or 130 glasses). It is pushed through the keg by gases such as nitrogen or argon, further providing a blanket over the wine and protecting it from oxidation. This is not always necessary. Recent changes in the wine industry made it possible to tap wine from keg by a pump. This means that no nitrogen is needed. Wine on tap utilizes cost savings at all levels, from the manufacturer, retailer and consumer. Traditionally, wine retailers have served wine by the glass by opening and resealing individual bottles. With wine on tap, bottle, cork, and carton costs are eliminated.

Costs of waste from throwing away oxidized wine are also decreased and fresher unoxidized wine is delivered to the consumer. Transport costs are significantly reduced as well, as the same amount of wine weighs significantly more in bottles than in a keg. Further, the disposable one way kegs require even less transportation than the steel kegs because they are disposable and recyclable The aging process does not occur in the keg because the wine is blanketed with a gas such as nitrogen or argon to pressurize the keg. Wines not in need of significant aging times are best placed to be housed in kegs.Presidio Graduate School’s Macroeconomics course for Spring 2012, is authoring a series of articles. The articles on this “micro-blog” reflect reactions and thoughts on news items, economic theory, and other issues as they pertain to the concept of sustainability.  An innovation in wine drinking is emerging in California restaurants:  wine on tap.  Wine served from a keg is not a new concept;

it has a long-standing history in Europe.  But here in the United States, wine on tap has been brought to the market and failed – more than once; first in the 1970s, then twice again in the 1980s.  This time, however, the concept is sticking; wine kegs are opening up a new market for wineries and rejuvenating the wine industry.  Kegged wine has multiple advantages for both the restaurant and the winery.  These advantages are environmental, quality related, and economic.Environmentally, the benefits of kegging wine are clear.  The bottling process is extremely resource intensive and includes bottles, corks, foils, labels, boxes and pallets.  Kegs eliminate tons of packaging, and are reusable for 20+ years.  Each standard sized, 19.5L keg, holds 26 bottles worth of wine.  Also, wines sold by the glass account for up to 80% of wine sold in restaurants, which equates to approximately 600 million bottles per year.  If 10% of that was served from a keg, that would save 60 million bottles yearly. 

Since only about 27% of glass is recovered for recycling, this would divert millions of bottles from landfills.  Furthermore, kegs lessen transported wine’s weight, which accounts for one-third to one-half of the industry’s transportation carbon emissions.Kegs keep wine tasting like it should.  When a keg is tapped, the contents become pressurized by an inert gas, which prevents oxygen from ever touching the wine, and therefore eliminates the waste that comes with serving wines by the glass.  And since the wine is served at a consistent level of ideal quality, wine on tap safeguards the promise of restaurants and wineries having more faithful, repeat customers.Economically, kegging wine makes sense, too.  Bottling is extremely costly, as all the resources required in the process must be purchased and are used only once.  Kegs result in savings of about 25–30% for wineries when compared to the equivalent amount of wine in bottles.  Restaurants that serve wine on tap can enjoy 25% higher profit margins than selling wine by the glass from bottles. 

Due to wastes being eliminated with kegged wine, restaurants can capitalize on even higher profit margins by offering more respectable, higher-end wines by the glass.  There have been many hurdles to the success of wine on tap, but many have now been overcome.  One such hurdle is the negative perception consumers once had of wine from a keg.  But as better-known wineries adopt the practice of kegging their wines, such as Au Bon Climat and Qupé, two highly respected wineries in the industry, the wine drinking public is realizing wine in a keg does not mean low quality.  And certainly, not all wines are candidates for being kegged, such as those that benefit from aging in a bottle, so bottles will not be replaced anytime soon.  But wines that are packaged when ready to drink are perfect candidates, and these represent about 90% of all wines produced.  So the next time you go out to eat, and you see wine on tap being served, don’t shy away.  Take advantage of the quality, economical, and environmental benefits wine on tap provides.