Tapping Wine: Keg Wine in Colorado
The Bonacquisti Wine Co. isn’t usually the type to jump on a trend. We make wine in an old-school manner and take our Italian and family heritage seriously. But one movement in the wine world is just too good to pass up (and we suspect it’s here to stay): Wine in a keg.
Over the last few years, serving wine off a tap has grown in popularity (Food & Wine noted it as one of the top seven wine trends in 2010). And for good reason.
It’s environmental. Instead of filling 15 bottles, we fill one keg. That means less glass and materials, fewer trips to restock a restaurant, and a decrease in wine waste.
It’s cheaper. For the same reasons above, we can get our wine to a bar or restaurant for a few less dollars, meaning the savings can be passed on to the consumers.
It’s by the glass: Normally, the trickiest hurdle to overcome in getting our wine on a list by the glass is waste. Each bottle holds about four glasses, but a bar manager doesn’t know if he or she can sell all four glasses once that bottle’s been cracked and before oxygen damages the wine. A keg keeps wine fresh for more than two months.
It’s the way we drink. So we’ve moved into the, ahem, technology age to solve to store lots of juice by selling our vino to restaurants in a keg. Yes, the same way beer has been served for as long as any of us can remember drinking it.
It stays fresh: With these keg systems, wine stays fresh by avoiding oxidation for up to 60 days. Each keg fits about 11 liters. The end result being an easier, cheaper and more efficient way of getting our wines on glass programs at a variety of Denver area restaurants and bars.
One of our most successful ventures to date has been with Spuntino, the newish Italian happy hour bar on 32nd and Clay. We’re the exclusive wine on site at this hot new eatery brought to us by the owners of Parisi, and most of it is being poured from a keg. Not to mention, the tap comes out of an actual oak barrel top affixed to the wall (how cool is that?).
Here, wine is served as casually as beer, which is just another benefit of Bonacquisti wine being served from a tap. It’s more affordable, more approachable and simply more fun to enjoy.
So get ready to tap a wine keg next time you’re thirsty.
