Oenophiles Sure to Whine About Plastic Bottles

Switch likely to lower prices for wine shipped in lighter, smaller containers

A new trend in wine bottling may startle consumers at first but please them at the cash register.

Some winemakers have started to sell the grape in plastic bottles, a practice that is sure to turn off serious collectors. The shock of the new, however, may give way to a pleasure when it comes time to ring up a purchase. The wine bottles weigh significantly less and require less space, which will lower shipping costs and, in all likelihood, prices.

Wine lovers still reeling from the switch to plastic corks will soon notice another major difference. Plastic-bottled wine comes with a "use by" date in the same way many other products do, because plastic does not have the same sealing capacity that glass offers, reported the Los Angeles Times.

Still, don't expect Two-Buck Chuck to turn into One-Buck Chuck anytime soon. The owner of Bronco Wine, which produces Charles Shaw Wine, told the paper that because of production requirements, there are no plans yet to deliver his wine in plastic bottles.

"Plastic would just blow off the line," Fred Franzia told the Times. "But it will come."

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