Originally uploaded by mikel.
I snapped this picture yesterday as we were preparing dinner (that’s the salmon getting ready for the grill on a cedar plank on the counter) – in Ontario, they are now selling wine packaged in the same packaging they use for juice boxes. I don’t know if the trend is going to catch on, but the new format brings up a couple of thoughts.
First, they are touting the new format as an environmental thing. It’s hard to see laminated paper/plastic products as environmentally beneficial, but as they say in their marketing materials, wine in this package can be shipped much more efficiently as it weighs less (bottles are heavy) and can be packed more efficiently in trucks. I wonder if anyone can comment? It seems a bit like the disposable/cotton diaper issue in that both can be considered “environmentally friendlier” depending on your point of view.
Secondly, I noted that the wine comes from the Pays D’Oc in France, also home to Fat Bastard wines. These both identify the wine by the grape varietal that has gone into the package, something rare (and largely illegal) in France but the norm in most of the rest of the world.
