Liquor Love Letter: Canned Wine While Flying

Cathy

June has been a month of journeys.

I mean that in many ways, though the focus for this week’s column are journeys on airplanes. And the wines (in cans) that we drink while flying.

A canned sparkling wine from California called The Betty, from Une Femme Wines, caught my eye a few years ago and I’ve noticed it again on cross-country Delta flights these past few weeks. To me there are three things that stand out about this wine: for one, the “sparkle” of this sparkling wine seems to be more pronounced when opened in the air; for two, it often hits just the spot of fun, refreshing and sweet during an otherwise unlively four-ish hours on a cross-country flight.

The third thing worth noting about Une Femme Wines, according to the text on the 250 ml can, is that they “are made by women winemakers in support of charities that improve the lives of women.” That point in itself is enough, though it also underscores the importance of packaging when it comes to canned wines of single-serving size: it’s limited and very valuable real estate, both to communicate easily-grasped information and to link (usually via QR codes) to further intel.

The packaging for two other canned wines I tried recently hit the same bullseye, that is, to tell me just enough to capture my interest so that I want to know more, and to do so in an eye-appealing, friendly way. Delta carries the red and white options from the Imagery label — Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon from Benziger Family Winery. True to its tagline to “broaden your palate,” however, the Chardonnay is blended with Chenin Blanc and the Cab is blended with Petite Sirah for unexpected twists on the palate.

My seat mate and I found the white blend more to our liking than the red, though one comment was conspicuous by its absence: we didn’t trip over “wine in a can,” nor were we distracted by whether wine from a can tastes any differently than wine from a more traditional bottle.

To me, that indicates that casual wine consumption has come a long way, even at 30,000 feet.

Matthew

Unlike Cathy, I’ve never had the pleasure of enjoying wine in a can while on a plane.

I sure see the opportunity, though!

Individual portions, no pouring for the staff. No cup/glass is required. Split style size of 187ml would be an obvious winner here! Plus the weight of the wine would be reduced which always helps in the air!

Canned wine has always been a go-to for the lake, the pool, the golf course, the beach, a hike, the park, picnics etc. I see so many amazing applications, and somehow I never considered the value of canned wine on airplanes before.

The ingenuity is growing. More and more high quality wine options are being canned and the landscape is really changing.

Maybe soon you’ll have access to canned wine on every flight you take!