Will Cans Bring Wine Out of the Cellar?

(Fool) - Sacre bleu! If cans are the salvation of craft beer, are they good enough for wine, too? 

It's actually been a long time since the fermented grape drink was solely the product of a corked glass bottle, as the industry was set on its head by the introduction of the twist-off cap, while wine-in-a-box eliminated the bottle altogether. Although canned wines have been around for about a decade, you probably won't find too many sommeliers sipping vino from a can, but it may help spur more sales by allowing consumers to take wine to more places than it's currently allowed.

That was one of the primary motivators behind Boston Beer finally serving its flagship Samuel Adams brand in a can. Because public places like beaches and ballparks prohibit bringing glass bottles to the venue, it was limiting sales -- though there was likely a lot more than that behind falling sales of its premier brand. And the brewer doesn't really think it will have many new drinkers bellying up to the bar for its beer, but rather the can gives its current brew lovers (count me among them) more opportunities to enjoy their beer.

Craft beers in general have been more than willing to, er, bottle their brews in cans without loss of taste, but there's been a much longer history of beer in a can, so the hurdle wasn't as high, even among beer snobs. Vintners, on the other hand, have a much taller barrier to surmount, though boxed wine has probably knocked it down a peg or two.

According to a recent BusinessWeek article, boxed-wine maker Franzia is the world's best-selling brand, though it has a less than 1% share of the market globally (but 6.5% in North America).