Wine & Spirits - June 2018 - 8

FINED&

filtered

Can It

by Tyler Colman

In May 2017, Caitlin Suemnicht was scrolling through Instagram on her phone, checking out posts from
fellow sommeliers. Suemnicht, 38, is the Chief Creative Officer at Food Fight, a group that owns and runs 19
restaurants in and around Madison, Wisconsin; their operations range from fine dining to fast-casual. The
group was opening a taco spot and she stumbled on a photo of Ramona, a grapefruit wine spritzer in a can.

cannedwinelife

WINE & SPIRITS

Ramona is the brainchild of Jordan Salcito.
Launched in fall 2016, Ramona was still new to the
market but gaining traction through Instagram (Salcito currently has more than 13,000 followers and
frequently posts pictures of Ramona cans in various
locales). Suemnicht tried it and thought that the citrusy flavor profile would go well with their tacos. So
she contacted a local distributor about getting it in
the state. The wine was on the list on opening day.
Salcito, also 38, is the Director of Wine Special
Projects for David Chang's restaurant group, Momofuku. She created Ramona as an "alter ego," she says,
something apart from the fine wine she focuses on
in her job-something to drink outdoors, or in any
traditional "beer moment."
Sensing a void in the market, she wondered, "Why
wasn't there an affordable wine option for that
moment?" Indeed, the Ramona marketing material
says that they are on a mission to "free wine drinkers from rules, dinner tables and bottle openers."
But it's not just wine coolers for hipsters that are
sparking interest in canned wine. Given the packaging's light weight, complete blocking of damaging
UV rays, and the success of the craft beer movement,
cans are taking wine to new audiences and places.
In fact, cans may vault wine into the mainstream.
The per capita consumption rate in the United States
has increased every year since 1993, making the
24-year run arguably the longest current bull market in the country. But the bull has been showing
signs of fatigue, notching a gain of less than one percent last year. Canned wine, by contrast, zoomed up
53 percent, according to data from Nielsen, which
tracks sales at places that use scanners, such as grocery stores, but misses places that don't, such as
taco trucks or many concert venues. Nielsen puts
the market of canned wine at $47 million, less than
the $200 million market for Tetra Pak wines and
the $330 million market for keg wines-but all of
those categories are growing at double-digit rates.
The number of wines in cans has also been growing:
Our research compiled 75 wines available now, with
many more coming to the market this year.
Josh Rosenstein, who developed Hoxie, calls his
fruity, herb-infused, five-percent alcohol spritzers

JUNE 2018

"sessionable." The term comes from craft beer,
where lower-alcohol offerings make it easier to drink
several at one sitting.
Wine for the Instagram era
The cans are eye candy on Instagram. Rosenstein
says that when it comes to wine in a can, "People just
aren't familiar with that, so they do a double take."
Kyna Williams, marketing director of Oregon's
Union Wine Co., which sells Underwood wine in
cans, says that Instagram has been vital. "Consumers love to showcase where they take the cans-we've
seen Underwood cans on top of mountains, on chairlifts and even in the bathtub! These are definitely
'Instagram worthy' moments, and for us, it emphasizes the portability and efficiency of the cans-you
really can take them everywhere." Underwood is the
market leader, putting out about 448,000 cases of
canned wine in 2017.
No corkscrew needed
A question arises about serving canned wine: Does it
merit the crystal stemware or a Solo cup?
Graham Veysey of Mancan Wine says, "You don't
need to worry about crappy plastic cups-the best
vessel for drinking is right there in the palm of your
hand, straight out of the can."
"We love riding the wine-in-the-can wave," he
says. "It resonates so much because of the ease. After
a day at work, go home, open the fridge: The product is consistent and it's easy to open. We want to be
the everyday go-to for anyone who wants to take the
chore out of drinking wine."
Caitlin Suemnicht, who put canned wine on the
list at the taco restaurant Canteen in Madison, agrees
that a large part of the appeal is the ease of use, consistency and lack of spoilage and waste.
"My only wish is that more cans were sold in
187-milliliter sizes," she says. "Sometimes a twelveounce can is a lot to commit to as a single person,
at lunch, say."
But one good thing about liquor laws in Madison
is that unopened cans purchased in a restaurant can
also be taken to go. And what's more portable than
a can? ■

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - June 2018