Wine

Plastic Wine Bottles Are on the Rise

by: Valerio Farris

March 13, 2018

We’re two and a half months into the year, and Whole Foods just released their predictions for the top beer and wine trends of 2018. Isn’t it too late for that? No matter! The company’s sommeliers needed a bit of time to forecast, anyway. Just last week, they shared their top five picks for the drink trends that will define and steer the market in the year ahead. Are you a fan of any of them? Read on to find out.

Mexican imports & lighter-bodied brews

The report cites the increasing popularity of the taco as the reason behind the surge of interest in beers from south of the border. Could this be? Perhaps. Or maybe after years of craft beer we’re all a little thirsty for something lighter on our stomachs—and our wallets.

Mezcal Michelada

Boo Radley

Bourbon-barrel-aged wines

This one I actually hadn’t heard of before. It’s the process of aging wine in wood barrels previously used for bourbon. Since the barrels can be used only once for bourbon, repurposing them for wine is actually beneficial. Plus, they say it makes the wine taste good. More of this, please!

Hard seltzers are the new boozy bubbly

It’s no secret that we’re deep in the midst of a La Croix moment. But could this overwhelming fascination translate into the drinks department (alcoholic ones, that is)? It seems so! Whole Foods is predicting an uptick in spiked seltzers. Hard seltzer: It’s like La Croix’s tough older cousin, the one with an eyebrow piercing.

Cynar Spritz

Spritzers beyond sangria

Packaged spritzers, it seems, are on the rise. Think beyond margaritas or sangrias and opt instead for something like a Ramona, a Sicilian ruby grapefruit wine spritzer. Mmm, that’s something I wouldn’t mind cracking open on a hot summer’s day! This is a trend I can get behind.

Alternative packaging is on the rise

Remember boxed water? How about canned wine? We fickle consumers are all about familiar things in unfamiliar shapes, and Whole Foods doesn’t see that interest going anywhere. The experts are expecting big things this year for plastic wine bottles. Sounds a lot more break-proof to me!

Shop the Story

So there you have it, all the beverage trends to expect for the rest of this year. How will they really pan out? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Do you identify with any of these trends? Tell us in the comments below.

Tags:

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

Planet Janet
bellw67
FrugalCat
Katie
Blank

Valerio is a freelance food writer, editor, researcher and cook. He grew up in his parent's Italian restaurants covered in pizza flour and drinking a Shirley Temple a day. Since, he's worked as a cheesemonger in New York City and a paella instructor in Barcelona. He now lives in Berlin, Germany where he's most likely to be found eating shawarma.

Popular on Food52

6 Comments

Planet J. July 2, 2018

Wow, the use of plastic wine bottles is awful, terrible news. From an environmental standpoint, it is unconscionable. From a taste standpoint, it's not much better. Bad, Bad, Bad,

bellw67 March 16, 2018

Great, just what we need, more plastic! And if it’s fizzy and boozy, I love it.

FrugalCat March 14, 2018

Aside from the 4 pack of 187 milliliter bottles, I have never even seen a plastic wine bottle.

Katie March 13, 2018

Wine in a plastic bottle is terrible! Plastic is awful for the environment and we continue to find reasons that consuming food packaged in plastic is not good for you. I hope this idea dies as quickly as possible.

Blank March 13, 2018

Sounds like more plastic in my Sea salt than I already receive and more plastic in my fish. Perhaps we should eat that plastic bottle after we drink the wine? Maybe our positive slant on it would change.

foofaraw March 13, 2018

Doesn't like plastic for wine (or anything if I can avoid it actually). Less recycleable, and can have plastic aftertaste. Wine bottle is pretty sturdy, I never have one break on me.