Everyone knows better than to mix beer and wine, but a new Wine Country startup is betting there’s profit in combining the best of both worlds—super premium North Coast wine that’s packaged in stainless steel kegs.
Company President Andy Woehl says using kegs to package premium wines is a long-overdue idea that addresses a number of concerns for both wine lovers and restaurateurs. Woehl says keg wine offers the public premium wine at an affordable price and reduces spoilage. The air-tight tanks eliminate oxidation that can ruin restaurant wines sold by the glass.
“Our wine is guaranteed fresh for 60 days and, actually, we’ve had glasses from kegs that have been tapped for three and four months—even longer—and the wine is excellent,” says Woehl.
Wine in kegs is also simple to handle. Kegs eliminate storage issues and provide an environmentally friendly alternative to all the energy that goes into producing, transporting and recycling thousands of wine bottles.
MÁS Wine kegs are filled with wine blended at Jepson Winery in Hopland in southern Mendocino County. The kegs, which come in 15- and 11-liter sizes, are filled with a Cabernet Sauvignon blend or Sauvignon Blanc.
Though wine out of a keg causes some dubious frowns, MÁS Wine Company keg wine gets high ratings from its customers. Doubters of keg wine should think again, says Brian Hemphill, vice president of operations, who grew up in a family of wine professionals at Korbel Cellars and has worked for Sutter Home and other North Coast wineries. “These are stainless steel tanks no different from those you’ll find at every winery in the world,” he says. “Our tanks are just smaller, like beer kegs.”
Thirteen beer distribution companies have added MÁS Wine kegs to their product lines. To celebrate this new business alliance between old rivals, MÁS Wine Company hosted a pairing of about 60 wine and beer people at Jepson earlier this year.
Jack Barhite, who works for Bay Area-wide DBI Beverage, says the wine kegs have piqued the interest of his customers. “People are very curious about the concept, and when they hear about environmental advantages of kegs over bottles, it really gets their attention,” he says.
But the proof is really in the kegs. Check the company website, www.maswinecompany.com, for a customer nearest you. For starters, try Mangiamo’s in Windsor, Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa, Pizza Antica in Mill Valley or La Taquiza in Napa.
