What does wine taste like in a cardboard bottle?

Peter Ranscombe puts a wine that comes in innovative packaging through its paces.

BACK in June, Scottish wine merchant Woodwinters revealed it would be stocking an Italian wine – in a cardboard bottle.

Packaging maker Frugalpac has come up with a container made from 94% recycled cardboard, with the liner inside accounting for the remaining 6%.

It weighs just 83 grams, so it’s five times lighter than a standard wine bottle.

I got quite excited when the news was announced, especially because the first wine going into the bottle is Cantina Goccia’s 3Q, which I reviewed back in 2018.

The initial run sold out from Woodwinters’ website within four weeks, but now the bottles are back in stock and also available in its Bridge of Allan, Edinburgh, and Inverness shops.

So – does wine taste any different when it comes out of a cardboard bottle?

The short answer is… no.

Which is a good thing.

The whole purpose of the new packaging is to cut the carbon footprint of the wine without compromising on the quality of the liquid.

The 2017 Cantina Goccia 3Q Frugalpac (£12.50, Woodwinters) – sangiovese with a splash of cabernet sauvignon and merlot – has all the classic red cherry, raspberry, spun sugar, and cigar box smells you’d expect from an Italian red.

The tannins are nicely balanced by the fresh acidity and by the red fruit flavours, with sweeter spun sugar notes rounding off the finish.

It’s a textbook example – and it’s cheaper than its 2016 Cantina Goccia 3Q (£17, Woodwinters) glass bottle equivalent to boot.

Plus, once you’re polished off the wine, all you need to do is unwrap the cardboard outer packaging and stick it in your recycling box, with the inner liner going with the other foil in your mixed recycling box.

For more reviews of wines, beers and spirits, visit Peter Ranscombe’s drinks blog, The Grape & The Grain.