Wine on Tap: 8 Reasons to Go with the Flow

Beer on Tap

Beer on tap has been an alternative to bottled beer for years: every bar in town has a tap system of popular drafts available by the pour. But wine on tap has been a bit slower to catch on.

While Europe embraced the idea years ago, here in the U.S, the concept has been discussed but just couldn't seem to gather enough interest to pursue. 

But thanks to the Millennials and their willingness to experiment with the tried and true, systems such as VinTap http://vintapwine.com, Free Flow Wines http://freeflowwines.com, MicroMatic http://www.micromatic.com, Versay http://www.versay.ca and Wine in a Keg http://wineinakeg.com were able to hit the professional market with a bang.  It didn’t take long to see, and taste, that wine on tap was a better alternative to pouring glasses of wine from a bottle. Could this be the wine wave of the future?

Wine Keg

This wine on tap dispensing system works with a keg, similar to the way beer is tapped. The kegs keep the wine at its best for a minimum of 12 months, and once tapped, are guaranteed fresh for at least two months. Every pour is flavorful – the way the winemaker intended.

Kegs come in various sizes but the standard wine keg holds 19.5 liters, about 26 bottles or 130 glasses of wine. Nitrogen or argon gas is used to blanket the wine and keep it from oxidation, and pressurizes the keg.

The types of businesses using wine on tap systems include wineries, restaurants, bars, supermarkets, hotels, sports and entertainment venues. Why? The reasons are many and varied but here are just a few.

 

1) It’s economical

2) It’s environmentally green

3) It guarantees fresh wine with every pour

4) It allows the customer more options

5) It allows smaller wines/wineries more exposure

6) It allows a variety of wines to be rotated

7) It allows a business to have a house-blend wine

8) Transportation costs are drastically reduced

Wine Kegs Ready for Delivery

There are wineries, mainly in California (though some New York State wines are also being kegged), that are now producing for the wine on tap market by having their wines custom kegged. This makes it easier to break into the wine on tap market, which is growing more each year.

Wine on Tap

The response has been very positive from both wine on tap facilities, and wine drinkers. Currently, there are over 250 quality wines on tap in close to 2,000 locations around the U.S. and the number is growing.  Hopefully, this “trend” is here to stay so that not only can we enjoy exceptional wines from the tap, we can also live a little greener while sipping that Chardonnay!

~ Joy