| Wolf Blass has released two of its wines in plastic bottles in Ontario in a bid to reduce glass use across the province, reports www.decanter.com.
Wolf Blass owner Fosters claims PET will reduce waste by 85%. Plastic bottles weigh 54 gm empty, compared with 400-750 gm for premium export glass.
After research Fosters decided that the Canadian market, especially younger people, was ready for the innovation. According to research carried out by the company wine ages in PET in a similar way to glass.
PET bottled wine is being marketed in Canada under the slogan 'All Blass, No Glass'. Fosters has no plans to introduce plastic bottles into other markets at the moment.
Before you jump at the idea of moving over to PET, here's a response to the Decanter news item that's worth a good look. Nineteen migrants from a commercial PET bottle, according to the writer, were identified by a study using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry analysis.
"The most important fact is that PET contains detectable amounts of acetaldehyde, which is able to migrate from the polymer into a liquid, like wine. Of course, temperature plays an important role here - the higher the temperature the faster the migration. We all know that acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) is a volatile compound found in wine and also constitutes approximately 90% of the total aldehyde content in wine," the writer says.
"At low levels acetaldehyde can contribute pleasant fruity aromas, but at higher levels the aroma is considered a defect and is reminiscent of rotten apples. I think that using PET bottles for wine is a good idea for saving money, but they come with microbiological implications that will have an irreversible effect over the quality of the wine."
For the complete story, go to http://www.decanter.com
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