Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/70680
P A CKA GING W&V: Why did you decide to put your Bandit wines in the half-liter and one-liter Tetra Paks? Gott: Tetra Paks are very common in other countries, and after we all came across it on several of our individual journeys, we thought it seemed to make a lot of sense to bring it to the United States for several reasons; 2004 was our first production year. Not only was it a progressive idea, but there were a lot of advantages to it. Environmentally they are much lighter and easier to ship because there isn't the weight of the glass. It's dramatically cheaper to use Tetra Paks (under 10 cents per Bandit package) than to buy glass, corks, labels and foils. That allows us to spend more on the wine. OR CALIFORNIA Mendocino Joel Gott Wines Napa Pacific Ocean Three Thieves St. Helena CALIFORNIA San Francisco San Jose Monterey We don't hear a lot from retailers about liking that it takes up less space, but we do hear a lot about the retailers struggling to find the best place to display and cool the wine. Because it's not a conventional shape, it adds another dimension to their layout in the store. The biggest concern was whether or not it would catch on. People love it for a multitude of reasons: They bring them backpacking, camping, concerts or anywhere glass isn't allowed, such as poolside. Plus the wine is good, so they aren't sacrificing any of the taste. Our current production is 300,000 cases. W&V: How do you have to change your winemaking practices for wines that are sold in Tetra Paks? Does using the Tetra Pak present additional challenges? Gott: Tetra Paks are unique in the sense that they are foil-lined paper, so you're not filling bottles. Filling boxes is more techni- cally challenging, and there are limited bonded facilities that are able to "box" alcohol. We have worked in Italy, Oregon and California for filling. You can't put high-acid wines in them because they'll eat the packaging, so we really had to bal- ance out the pH and TA. We do this by de-acidifying or acidifying, balancing the Wines & Vines MAY 2011 43 NV