Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/804714
TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT WINEMAKING April 2017 WINES&VINES 53 At the time, the neighbor- hood was a run-down mix of vacant commercial and light in- dustrial buildings. "When we moved into this neighborhood, we were really the only people that were here," he recalled dur- ing a recent visit. The company didn't have much capital to spend on improvements, so Parsons said he had to frame out a barrel room from the exist- ing structure himself. Most of the winemaking equipment he ac- quired to increase production was purchased second-hand from other wineries. By the time of the move, the winery was producing around 8,000 cases of bottled wine, and Parsons decided to launch a keg program. He had also been in touch with Ball Corp., which is a metal packaging producer based in Colorado and a leader in canned beverages. "They were super pumped we wanted to put wine in a can," Parsons said of Ball. After a year of research and development, Parsons unveiled his first canned wine at the Aspen Food & Wine festival in 2011. Frontier Airlines was one of the first major accounts to pick up the canned wine, followed by Whole Foods, and by 2014 sales were really starting to take off. Now Parsons is negotiating with KEY POINTS Infinite Monkey Theorem operates two urban wineries and tasting rooms in Denver, Colo., and Austin, Texas. While small, the Denver winery is equipped for traditional wine- making as well as canning and kegging wine. Owner Ben Parsons believes the winery may be the market leader in wine packaged in 187 ml cans. After starting in the London wine trade, founder and winemaker Ben Parsons worked in winemaking in Australia and New Zealand before coming to Colorado in 2001.