 Olive oil needs to be stored at cool and constant temperature like wine though the conditions are not as stringent. Since I learnt that the normal life of olive oil increases from one year to two years, I try to bring big quantity from Italy or Spain and devote one shelf of one of my wine coolers to storing it. I try to bring square bottles as I find them easy to store without any chance of breakages, especially by the careless household help that one is used to.
I love to watch the bottles lying quietly in the cellar without making any complaint unlike the wine bottles that are a real pain to store. At best you have the round, short necked Bordeaux bottles or the wider Burgundy bottles with long necks. They are quite inconvenient to store but if you have a mix, the pain increases. I have had bottles break on me so often that I cannot use the space to the optimum and am mortally scared every time there are guests in the house and I have to pick out a particular bottle. Imagine with so many other non standard bottles and half bottles you are obliged to store.
I have always wondered why on earth the wine industry could not come up with a square wine bottle just like olive oil producers use. Therefore, I was not surprised and secretly pleased - secretly because the wine snobs are sure to find faults with the new design for reasons I have not been able to appreciate so far. After all, olive oil does fine in the square bottles.
In any case, if you have heard of the King’s Circle and Bermuda Triangle but are not familiar with the California Square, that is the name given by a Healdsburg Sonoma County, California producer, Truett-Hurst, for the new design reportedly introduced for the first time in the world and simple as it may seem, the effort and the pioneering work needs to be lauded.
Truett-Hurst's new line of "California Square" wines include 2012 vintages of Russian River Valley Chardonnay, Paso Robles Cabernet and Paso Robles Red Blend of Petite Syrah, Syrah, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, and Merlot, according to the Press Release. The wines retail for $20 and are available online at the website of Total Wine and More. (www.totalwine.com)
The bottles have a retro style screen printing as the label. They call it retro/chic and non-rolling-off-the-shelf bottle, takes less space in the box and the wine cooler (and in my case not as frequently breakable), for some reason they call it eco-friendly too.This is perhaps because the empty bottles will find use in storing olive oil or used as a vase or candle stand.
The three ‘California Square’ wines were a big hit when Truett-Hurst, the producer and Total Wine & More featured them at a preview before the 65th annual Emmy Awards in Los Angeles late last month. Stars like Chris Noth of Sex and the City, Ed O’Neil of Modern Family and Emmy winner Tony Hale of Veep modeled for the bottles and were apparently very impressed with the wines and the bottle design during the event. "Introducing an alternative package is tricky," says winemaker Virginia Marie Lambrix of VML and Truett-Hurst, who is an avid supporter of sustainability. “The wine inside has to over deliver and create a memorable impression for the consumer," she says.
Time will tell the extent of impression the bottles make or the after-taste left by the wines. But it is an interesting concept for the tasters in India.
Subhash Arora
Tags: square wine bottle,California,California Square,Healdsburg,Truett-Hurst,Total Wine & More,Virginia Marie Lambrix
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