going sailing - decent cask wine?

[3lliot]

I know 'decent cask wine' is a bit of an oxymoron, but we're off on a charter sailing trip in september, and we're not allowed any glass on board

Can anyone recommend anything, white or red?

Or if anyone has a method for decanting wine into a plastic container and keeping it fresh for up to a week, that would be great too.

thanks
Elliot

[davidg]

Take the time to make sure they are referring to bottles rather than glasses.

[Nayan]

Take the time to make sure they are referring to bottles rather than glasses.

Do Riedel do plastics?

[John #11]

Wine travels very nicely intravenously.

[griff]

I know 'decent cask wine' is a bit of an oxymoron, but we're off on a charter sailing trip in september, and we're not allowed any glass on board

Can anyone recommend anything, white or red?

Or if anyone has a method for decanting wine into a plastic container and keeping it fresh for up to a week, that would be great too.

thanks
Elliot

This is a tough one. Hard to recommend a particular cask wine as the blend changes all the time. Have had good experiences in the past with Yalumba Riesling and I think the banrock casks are the same as in the bottle. There is a premium grower's garden range? But I haven't tried them. Mostly I use them for cooking but a little always finds its way into my glass first.

As for keeping wine in plastic there is two strategies. The first is to take wine resistant to oxidation i.e. fortifieds and sweet whites. The second is to use HDPE plastic (the hard walled stuff) as that would be more resistant to oxygen permeation (thicker as well as denser). Fill it all the way up to the top and keep as cold as possible! Younger reds would usually last longer and italian red I find last longest (perhaps due to the oxidative handling?).

A week isn't that long so maybe a wine for the first half and beer/spirits/fortified wines for the last part?

Good luck!

cheers

Carl

[Steve]

Forget the wine - if you like beer, and like Tooheys Extra Dry... it's (or was) available in plastic bottles.

They might be a better option than wine, although... I'd prefer a cask red over an Extra Dry any day!

[Adair]

I remember Huon writing once that he would give a "Pressings" wine a bronze medal. Either De Bortoli or Morris.

If you were really serious, buy the 10 L cask from Kay's Amery. Around $70 from memory. A blend of their red grapes. Big and not bad at all.

Adair

[silkwood]

Why not fill an empty cask with a couple of bottles of something decent? You can eliminate all the internal air and it should keep quite well for a week (not using an older wine which would suffer from the brief exposure whilst decanting)? keeping it cool would help.

Cheers,

Mark

[3lliot]

Thanks guys, great help all round

[Gary W]

I remember Huon writing once that he would give a "Pressings" wine a bronze medal. Either De Bortoli or Morris.

If you were really serious, buy the 10 L cask from Kay's Amery. Around $70 from memory. A blend of their red grapes. Big and not bad at all.

Adair

Morris Pressings. It's actually not too bad at all. In fact this is probably something you would appreciate more than most..considering
GW

[3lliot]

Any tips on cask whites...?

[mattECN]

Any tips on cask whites...?

recently tried a 2006 Yalumba Sauvignon Blanc, it was pretty good for what it was out of goon bag.

as Gary W said, Morris Pressings is not too bad either.

[3lliot]

Ah, thought morris pressings was a red.

thanks

[davidg]

Forget the wine - if you like beer, and like Tooheys Extra Dry... it's (or was) available in plastic bottles.

Rum is, of course, more traditional.

[bacchaebabe]

I think that the long flat wine company are now doing wines in cardboard containers. I think they are one litre. A step above cask wines and maybe easier to pack into nooks and crannies. Available in white a red but not sureof varieties. They were marketing them at the Movies in the park at Centennial park over last summer and were at least quaffable. I assume you can buy them at the usual barn outlets. I got the impression they might be around the $10 a litre price range.

The idea was that they are lighter and get around the glass issue but still of 'bottle' (albeit at the cheapish end) quality.

Here is a link - they are called B-paks.

http://www.cheviotbridge.com.au/wine/lo ... /index.cfm

[Gary W]

Ah, thought morris pressings was a red.

thanks

It is.
I'd go with SSB or Riesling in a carton rather than chardonnay. Nothing that you would even think about dipping oak chips etc in.
GW

[aj_syrah]

Hi Elliot,

Often, if I have about half a bottle of wine remaining at the end of the night, I'll pour it into a small plastic bottle, such as a 300 ml Mt Franklin water bottle. I've found that this stores the wine better than vacuvin. Another benefit with plastic bottles, is that you can pour out a glass, and then squeeze the bottle until all the air has been evacuated, before re-sealing.

When pouring the wine into the bottle, it is important to pour it in as gently as possible, so that little air is absorbed by the wine compared with a vigourous pour. Also hold the plastic bottle as horizontally as possible whilst pouring, so the the wine travels a short distance before reaching the body of wine inside the plastic bottle, thereby absorbing less air. Refrigerating it also helps a lot. I've only done it with reds, and they've held up quite well, but I'd assume that champagne would hold up for a lot longer if stored in this fashion, as the already dissolved carbon dioxide would decrease the ability for oxygen to dissolve in the champagne whilst pouring and being stored. Also pour the champagne from a highly chilled bottle, so as to limit the amount of carbon dioxide loss.

A good bet might be to try this technique out at home with one bottle before before leaving for the sailing trip, and try the wine every day or two. Then you can get an idea of how long the wine will last, and if it looks like it's starting to deteriorate, drink it.

I'm not sure if red would last a week, but i'd be very surprised if champagne didn't.

regards, Andrew

[3lliot]

Andrew, thanks for that.

Any method that involves results-based experimentation (i.e. drinking wine) deserves to be investigated thoroughly.

Elliot

[griff]

Hi Elliot,

Often, if I have about half a bottle of wine remaining at the end of the night, I'll pour it into a small plastic bottle, such as a 300 ml Mt Franklin water bottle. I've found that this stores the wine better than vacuvin. Another benefit with plastic bottles, is that you can pour out a glass, and then squeeze the bottle until all the air has been evacuated, before re-sealing.

When pouring the wine into the bottle, it is important to pour it in as gently as possible, so that little air is absorbed by the wine compared with a vigourous pour. Also hold the plastic bottle as horizontally as possible whilst pouring, so the the wine travels a short distance before reaching the body of wine inside the plastic bottle, thereby absorbing less air. Refrigerating it also helps a lot. I've only done it with reds, and they've held up quite well, but I'd assume that champagne would hold up for a lot longer if stored in this fashion, as the already dissolved carbon dioxide would decrease the ability for oxygen to dissolve in the champagne whilst pouring and being stored. Also pour the champagne from a highly chilled bottle, so as to limit the amount of carbon dioxide loss.

A good bet might be to try this technique out at home with one bottle before before leaving for the sailing trip, and try the wine every day or two. Then you can get an idea of how long the wine will last, and if it looks like it's starting to deteriorate, drink it.

I'm not sure if red would last a week, but i'd be very surprised if champagne didn't.

regards, Andrew

I haven't tried champagne but although the wine might be sound at the end of the week, I suspect the carbon dioxide will be somewhat reduced. Let me know if you get a different result though.

cheers

Carl

[aj_syrah]

also, with regards to transferring wine to other containers, a home winemaking website suggests that "Wine should usually be siphoned, not poured" (http://www.nauvoowinery.com/home_wine_makers.htm). I then googled "siphoning wine" and many responses came up, that you could browse through. Basically, you just need a plastic tube, and the process is similar to siphoning petrol from a car's gas tank with a hose. This stops the wine coming into contact with much air, so if you siphon it into a plastic bottle, and seal it, I imagine it would last for ages (a negligable amount of oxygen would be absorbed).

maybe also check whether a glass bottle heavily wrapped in duct tape would be allowed on board - that would eliminate any potential hazard caused by breakage (even if the bottle breaks, the shards of glass will be effectively contained).

[silkwood]

When we did a "home" bottling we obviously siphoned the wine and that's when we put the last "drops" into three bladders. After expunging all the air these lasted us for about two months kept in the 'fridge(we used them at after-work meetings!) The quality was good throughout the period, though the last bladder had so much sediment I thought I'd need a spoon!

You can buy the (silver) bladders at outdoor stores, or beg some from Scholle Industries (Elizabeth S.A.). This way you can take 3-4 bottles (of the same wine naturally) of something you really enjoy. I'd say it would be a simple thing to siphon out the wine.

Cheers,

Mark