Last month I was able to try what could become the future for wines bottled in Australia.  The bottles had been placed on my desk before I arrived at work. In a light hearted “think quick” moment a work colleague picked up a bottle and threw it to me as I walked through the door. With my coat in my dominant hand and my bag over my other shoulder I grasped with my non dominant hand and fumbled with the greatest of ease. The wine literally ‘bounced’ off my shoe and rolled away.

Sirromet are going green! They have released the first wines in a plastic bottle in Australia. Aptly titled ‘First Step’, their range consists of a chardonnay & a cabernet merlot blend. The bottles remind me of the elongated, tall & narrow cans of energy drink you see these days. Under screw cap & made of recyclable plastic. The amount of energy used to create one of these bottles is considerably less than their glass counterparts. The bottles are made here in Australia & weigh a fraction of a glass bottle. The carbon footprint at Sirromet is reducing by the minute!

The wine inside was a real surprise. After assembling a red hot wine tasting team we opened them up. Chardonnay first. We could smell it leaping out of the bottle and our glasses as we poured. This had an amazingly fresh, bright & zippy nose. Abundant stone fruit aromas left one member saying “I could sit & smell this all day”. Looking for more than just smell my wine I took it upon myself to run it across the palate. A very well structure palate & refreshing chardonnay. Interestingly the palate wasn’t as forthcoming as the nose but nonetheless it was well made. The cabernet merlot was a little more the reverse, slow nose & great palate. We worked the wine around & around the glass to loosen it up a little. Then as if someone had flicked a switch at the 3 minute mark the nose came alive.  Lots of blackcurrant & tobacco leaf aromas. On the palate it was great. A good solid cabernet merlot with abundant fruit, & refreshingly, not too much tannin. This was a delight with the steak we were eating.

I assume people like to age wines so I was curious about the ‘best before’ stamp on the back of the bottle. This sparked some discussion at our table. We concluded that generation Y and their tendency to want things now won’t having this one sitting in the cellar for long. Who could blame them? These bottles were keeping the wines fresh & ready to go.

The future is looking very green at Sirromet.  If this is the first step then I am looking forward to the second.