I came across a very insightful post by Rochelle Fainstein of Sterling Brands on the growing trend towards the use of aluminum bottles for packaging wine. (Click here to see the entire post).
Ms. Fainstein points out some powerful arguments for the use of aluminum including“the longest shelf life at 2 years on average, the ability to be cooled 5x faster than other materials, the availability of a wide range of shapes and sizes, and no U/V damage to the product. Removable liners maintain the freshness of the wine in aluminum bottles and the elimination of paper labels with direct-to-bottle graphics and printing not only creates less waste, but also allows for some graphically stunning design results.”
Aluminum bottles are certainly starting to prove their worth in many aspects of the value chain, from production to marketing.
Perhaps the single factor limiting further growth and acceptance is the limited awareness of the advantages of using aluminum bottles among consumers and companies. Hopefully this will change with the arrival of a breakthrough product that can really capture the imagination of consumers. When that happens, there will surely be a lot more products in aluminum bottles in supermarket shelves.
I am studying use of aluminum bottles in the wine industry. I have a technical question.
Can an aluminum bottle be made shaped more like a wine bottle?
Mommessin Beaujolais has a bottle that is straight sided.
An advertisement shows a beer in a different shaped aluminum bottle.
Is it possible to made an aluminum bottle shaped like the Infinium glass bottle below?
The aluminum bottle should also be punted or pushed-up at the bottom.
Can these bottles be internally coated to protect the wines?
Thank you.
Regards,
George Vierra
Viticulture & Winery Technology
Napa Valley College
Napa, CA USA
UNITED GRAPES
2008 VALLOTTON
GUTENBERG TRANSFER PRINTING
655 MAIN STREET, ST. HELENA, CA 94574
George,
The answer is yes and no. With a large bottle 75cl it would be difficult for most manufacturer because they work with small diameters compare to regular wine bottles. You can see that the Beaujolais bottle you are referring to is long and thin. That being said they could modify the shoulder shape to look more like the Infinium. When it comes to smaller bottle for half a bottle they can get close to it. If they use a C2C technology they can copy a Coke bottle that look a little like some bottles of Rose wine. They would be punted at the bottom. Regarding coating, they would have one if not you would have serious compatibility issues.
I don’t know if you’ve been following our blog. As a follow up to your original question on whether aluminum bottles can be shaped more like wine bottles, check our latest post on that topic: https://elementalcontainer.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/aluminum-bottles-in-traditional-shapes/
Leo