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Volute: Aluminum Bottled Wine

by Yael Miller on 11/08/2008 | 1 Minute Read

Editorial photograph

Volute Wine is a uniquely packaged French wine - they're bottled in aluminum instead of glass. Not only is the bottle aluminum, but its smaller single-serve size makes it portable and nice for more casual parties. They're 1/4 the volume of a 750mL standard wine bottle. Why aluminum? Volute claims it's functionally identical to glass, yet has a lower carbon footprint to glass and requires less weight/material per bottle than glass. The unbreakable quality of aluminum also makes it safer than glass for transport and storage. I am not sure about its insulation qualities as compared to glass, but the benefits seem to outweigh any negatives.

There is one other challenge that Volute will have to overcome, and that is the perception of glass being ideal for wine. For example, there are plenty of wineries trying to deal with issues of contamination from corks, yet the negative consumer perception for metal screw-caps is hard to overcome - corks just seem higher-end. I wonder how Volute will be accepted by consumers in its unusual aluminum format, despite its high credentials as a premium, small batch French Bordeaux wine. Clearly, its modern looks appeal to a younger (and hopefully, more accepting) crowd.

Designed by Thierry Maschino, who is part of the Volute wine company.