Banrock Station, Merlot 2020
Riverland, Australia, Dry Red, Screwcap, 13.5% abv(2021) Arguably the most interesting thing about this wine is not the stuff in the bottle, but the bottle round the stuff: 100% recycled plastic, it is also recyclable and weighs just 63 grams when empty - about 87% less than a standard glass bottle. It is also a unique, letter-box-friendly flat shape, said to take up around half the volume of a standard glass bottle when being shipped, all of which give very attractive eco-credentials. The wine itself is a rather sweet Merlot with soft strawberry and summer pudding flavours, vanilla and a little dustiness, and barely perceptible tannins but decent balancing acidity. Some oak influence (almost certainly staves or chips rather than barrels). In many ways it's a shame this unique supermarket package doesn't contain a more interesting wine, but then it is a crowd-pleasing style and maybe that's what counts for people who pick a bottle up, attracted by the unusual packaging. Watch the video for more information and to see the bottle.
Nice Merlot for sure,but I won’t be buying another bottle ..left the top off to ‘ breath’.. picked up to pour,and being plastic,it squashed wine out of the spout all over my expensive cushions!!!!
Oh dear – now that’s a design fault for sure 🙁
Have to agree with the line regards the bottle’s contents. I love the concept, but wouldn’t buy the winetwice. It’s just not my type of wine. Inoffensive and not unpleasant drinking. The big shame is that Coop don’t seem to make any POS to point out it’s innovation. It seems unlikey to sell in any quantity without any kind of push an then th concept’s abandoned.
Indeed that is a good point Carl. I see the Coop did include it as an innovative product in their customer magazine when it was first listed, but on the shelf there is nothing to explain or draw attention to it – at least that’s the case in my local Coop too.