Cork Free! Pinot Noir in a Can

Episode Transcript and Show Notes

Episode 18: Cork Free! Pinot Noir in a Can! 00:00

Hello! And welcome to the Wine Pair podcast. I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and wine-pairing partner in crime - Carmela. And we are the Wine Pair.

Alright, after an unexpected week off, we are back! And not only are we back, we are back to our Cork Free! Series where we taste and review wines that come in a format that doesn’t have a cork. No cork! So, that means things like screw caps, boxes, and, like in this episode, cans! We are seeing more and more canned wines, don’t you think? I wonder if we are starting to see a bit of a shift in the way consumers are taking to these different formats? I went to a Seattle Kraken game last night, and there was lots of wine in a can to be found. 

Carmela, I do have a confession to make about missing last week’s episode to all of those out there in listening land. I really thought we were going to make it. I did. I had a plan, you were an awesome sport, but I should have known that we couldn’t pull it off. We got close - I had lapel mics and had practiced recording on my phone, but when it came down to it, I didn’t plan it out well enough, the venue was too loud, and it didn’t come naturally enough. So, we bailed out last week because we’d rather have no episode than a bad episode. 

But, that’s ok, because we are back this week! And, for those of you who are new to our podcast, every episode and we taste and rate 3 wines that normal people drink, that you should be able to easily find in your local grocery store, and are priced under $20. We try to release a new episode every week (or I guess I should say almost every week!) on Sundays. And, if you are a regular listener, hit that subscribe button and keep coming back for more! And if you like us, we would love for you to rate, us, too, because that helps other people find us and decide to listen to us! 

Finding Canned Red Wines for This Episode 04:13

So, I wanted to go back to canned wine for this Cork Free series episode. And I am definitely trying not to be a snob when it comes to canned wine - I am pretty open to them. And we like some canned wines, right Carmela? 

But one thing is starting to bug me a bit - I feel like I am seeing the same canned wine makers everywhere I go. I figure that is part of the rise of national brands and the power of local distributors. I could easily find House Wine, Underwood, and Dark Horse wines in a can just about everywhere, but it was difficult to find other makers. I even noticed the same thing last week when we were in California. The local Ralphs, which is also a Kroger Store, had the same brands of canned wine that we have here in Seattle. So, just to see if I could find a variety, I went out a few weekends ago to 4 stores in our area: Total Wine, Safeway, QFC, and Whole Foods - I think you were wondering why I took so long when I went out to find these wines! And in a few stores I found different brands, but basically saw those three other brands everywhere. It was hard work!!!

So, I really wanted to look for some different brands of canned wines for this episode, and I wanted to try a varietal that I like so we are judging a bit more of the format rather than the varietal. So, we are trying three canned Pinot Noirs, two of which are from producers we have not had before.

I really wanted to do a red wine in a can to see what we think. Because it seems like a bit of an odder varietal to put in a can. Rose’ and white and sparkling all make sense to put in a can because they are meant to be chilled, and I think most of the time when we think of canned beverages, we are putting those in the fridge. I am actually having trouble coming up with many canned beverages that you would not chill. Right?!? But Pinot Noir is not a wine that you serve chilled, so I am really intrigued to see how these wines hold up in a can. 

And I think in this episode I am going to try drinking the wines from the can itself a bit just to see what that experience is like. It will be hard to smell them out of the can, so we will definitely pour them out into glasses, too, but I wanted to get a sense for that experience of straight out of the can. 

Broader Topic: The Pros and Cons of Canned Wine  08:38

So now, as we like to do, we are going to take a left turn and talk about a topic tangentially related to the wines we are going to taste. And today, we are going to talk about the pros and cons of canned wines. Look, we love canned wines. We really do, but we know there are pros and cons to them, so today, we are going to discuss! Ready!

Now, we discussed in a previous episode, some of the things we think are great about canned wines, so we don’t need to go into a ton of detail on the pros. What I think we should do is name the maybe top 5 things that we think are pros about canned wine.

• Easy to store
• Easy to carry
• Won’t break
• Block light
• Can’t be “corked”
• Easy to open

Now, despite all of these positives, there are some negatives to canned wine, some of which I think are more problematic than others.

• Size is deceptive. A can of wine is half a bottle of wine. Whenever we bring that up to people, the first comment is “what’?!? Now, it is not a bad thing from a cost perspective, but what are some cons with the deceptive size? May not know how much you are drinking, may treat it like a can of beer which has a quarter to a third as much alcohol. 
• Not very elegant. Many people like wine, frankly, because it feels like a grown up drink, something to graduate into, part of adulting. There are a lot of rules and some snobbery and coolness factor and it can be expensive and it can be stored and there are people who collect it, so the bottle of wine is more than just a container. It has status. When you bring out a nice bottle of wine, people perk up. But a can? It just doesn’t have that same wow factor. It would be hard to bring out at a dinner party, unless the dinner party was something like Chef Boyardee lasagna in a can. 
• A form-factor made for being chilled. I mentioned this before, but there is something strange to me about a red wine in a can, Again, because we generally associate canned drinks with refrigeration or being on ice, having red wine just seems like it is unnecessary.
• Seems cheap. This sort of goes with the not being elegant point, but there is an expectation that it is not going to be good because it is in a can. That is not necessarily a forever thing - after all screw cap wines are more acceptable now - but it is hard to see a very high end wine ever being in a can. Are you ever going to see tall boys? Big cans? Feels cheap. 
• May not age well. Now, I am not sure if this is because of the varietals in canned wines or the canning process itself, but I have read on the interwebs that canned wine may not last as long as wine in a bottle. I am not sure that has actually been put to the test, but there are wine makers who say that after a few years, wines in can may develop off flavors and smells created by a process called reduction - which means that there is not enough oxygen and the wine can have a sulfur or rotten eggs smell. This can become more pronounced over time, so even a few years in the bottle can affect them. Corks can allow some oxygen, which is a good thing sometime. 
  • https://daily.sevenfifty.com/can-do-attitude-avoiding-pitfalls-with-canned-wine/ 
  • https://www.mashed.com/180020/the-truth-about-canned-wine/
• Still needs a glass. Ok, this one I am going to put to the test today, but I am not sure that canned wine will taste as good in a can as it does in a glass. The same can be said for wines in a bottle. Pouring a wine in a glass opens it up to the air, brings out the aromas and taste of the wine, etc. If a wine is drunk directly out of the can, you will miss all of those aspects of wine that make it really fun and interesting. 
• Encourages chugging? This may go with the first point in saying that the size is deceptive, but we have all seen people shotgun beers or “pound” can after can of beer. You usually, and I know this is a stereotype, but you usually don’t see people pounding wine. And there is good reason because the alcohol is much higher in wine. So, my concern is that the can could lead to some health consequences. Does it encourage over drinking?
• Harder to save. I saw this on a blog called the North Bay Woman which I hadn’t thought of, but if you don’t finish the can of wine, it is a bit harder to store than a bottle. Screw caps and corks can be put back into wine bottles, but there is no reclosing a can. So, although it is cheaper, it is a sunk cost once it is opened. 
  • https://blogs.marinij.com/northbaywoman/pros-and-cons-of-wine-in-a-can/ 

Now, there are other people who are saying on the interwebs that there are health hazards in the cans themselves, and that some canned wines may be adding more sugar to the wine to help with the taste, but I am not sure I fully believe them. They may be right, but I am not ready to go there yet because it feels like something that needs to be proven factually and not just on opinion. But, there you go. Of these, what seem to be the biggest cons?

Overall, I am still pro on cans, but like anything, there are reasons to love them and drink them, and reasons to sometimes make other choices. 

Anyway, let’s get to tasting so we can see what we think. Are you ready? 

Brief overview of the canned wines we are tasting  14:45

Ok, I am not going to spend a lot of time talking about Pinot Noir other than to say it is one of my favorite wines, and it is the wine that is most famously from Burgundy in France. I will also say I am not the hugest fan of American Pinot Noir, which is where all of these canned Pinot’s come from. But, I am going to be open-minded in our tasting of these wines. The most storied place in America for Pinot Noir is Oregon’s Willamette valley, which is supposed to have some similarities in climate, etc. as Burgundy, but the largest producer is, no surprise, California, so, despite my reservations, we are going to be tasting Pinos from those two states. 

So, we’ll see how these canned wines are. Like we always do, we’ll taste and rate these wines to let you know if we think you should buy these wines or not. And, after we taste and review these wines, we are going to compare the tastes and smells we think with those of what would be the typical or expected taste profile for each should be. Just to see how we fare. 

Wines and Ratings in this Episode  15:50

Wine: Freeseeker Pinot Noir

Region: California (Canned in Oregon)

Producer: Freeseeker Wines

Year: 2020

Price: $4.88 (375 ml - bottle equivalent is $9.76)

Retailer: QFC (Kroger)

Alcohol: 13.5%

Grapes: Pinot Noir

What we tasted and smelled: Tart cherry, gunpowder, dirt, dried herbs, sulfur, thin, super tart, under ripe strawberry, not good. 

Rating: Joe  3 Carmela  3

Wine: Outspoken California Pinot Noir

Region: California

Producer: Having some trouble finding the producer

Year: NV

Price: $3.49 (375 ml on sale - bottle equivalent is $6.98)

Retailer: Whole Foods

Alcohol: 13.5%

Grapes: Pinot Noir 

What we tasted and smelled: gamey, gunpowder, mushroom, earthy, cherry, wood, floral, rose, cured meat like salami, tannin, tea bag.

Rating: Joe  5 Carmela  4

Wine: Underwood Pinot Noir

Region: Oregon

Producer: Union Wine Company

Year: NV

Price: $4.99 (375 ml - bottle equivalent is $9.98)

Retailer: QFC (Kroger)

Alcohol: 13%

Grapes: Pinot Noir

What we tasted and smelled: vanilla, cherry licorice, rose, floral, perfume, pepper, cherry, sweet cherry, 

Rating: Joe  6 Carmela  5

Pairing Pinot Noir in a can with Chef Boyardee lasagna 30:26

Ok, before you make your final decision, and before we get to the expected taste profile of a Pinot Noir, I wanted to let you know that I have a special treat for you to see what you want to pair this canned Pinot Noir with. I have some Chef Boyardee lasagna in a can. We are each going to try a bite, and then we are going to determine which of these delicious canned wines would pair best!

Taste profile of Chef Boyardee: gummy overcooked pasta, mystery meat, tomato paste, oregano, musty, love, joy. Not a match made in heaven.

Taste profiles expected from a Pinot Noir:  33:39

Pinot Noir:

• Typical: Cherry, raspberry, clove, mushroom, vanilla
• California: Raspberry sauce, plum, gun smoke, all spice
• Oregon: more tart fruit flavors
• Can also include things like cola, cinnamon, soil, tobacco, cocoa, rose and other flowers, dried herbs, red licorice, cotton candy, pomegranate, wild blueberry, black cherry

Outro and how to find us 34:52

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