France gets first AOC wine in can

Company targets young people who have turned to cans of beer or cola

WINE is to be served in cans like beers and colas as a French company aims “to become the Nespresso of wine and popularise it”.

Cédric Segal, co-founder of canned wine company Winestar, said at present it was not possible to get quality wine in small-format packs and he was aiming for the young market which had turned to beer, colas and spirits instead.

His first Winestar wines are a range of AOC Corbières red, white and rosé from the Château de l'Ille in Languedoc-Roussillon. The 187 ml cans sell at €2.50 each or €59 for a case of 24 (equivalent to six bottles).

He is targeting young people as they have stopped taking wine on picnics and went for medal-winning winemaker Pol Flandroy at Château de l'Ille as he wants to get away from the bad reputation of wine boxes or bag-in-box.

Some poorer-quality wines are already sold in cans but Segal believes there will be €1.3million a year of business with the new format. Winestar cans will soon be available nationwide in Carrefour City stores.

In Germany, the market for canned wines has hit 60 million cans a year.

The cans, developed by Ball Packaging Europe, exclude all light and air and prevent the wine from oxidising – and are 100% recyclable.

Get more details (in English): www.en-winestar.fr