‘Bag-in-box’ wine comes to Leamington

Wilde’s, independent since 1976 and voted one of the top 50 bars in the UK by The Independent, is well known for its varied wine selection.

It has recently become one of the nation’s pioneers in taking on this innovative and eco-conscious approach to serving its house wine selection, which is supplied by local wine company, Frazier’s Wine Merchants.

The bag-in-box wine has been received well by Wilde’s clientele, both on its eco-friendly credentials, taste and the speedier service.

William Frazier, director at Frazier’s, said: “Wine lovers used to dismiss wines with rubber corks and screw caps. But they were won over by the quality of the wine itself. And now, they are welcoming bag-in-box wines.”

It was the bag-in-box wine’s eco-friendly credentials that attracted Wilde’s to introducing this innovation. Wilde’s recognised the need to contribute to its reduction of CO2 emissions. They found that significant savings in emissions were possible by changing the way wine is imported.

William Frazier added: “We recently introduced our environmentally-friendly ‘bagged at source’ wines into Wilde’s and, although we were all convinced by the ecological argument, Wilde’s wanted to be judged by the quality of the wine as well. So we talked to all our wine-makers, and settled on Los Lobos from Portugal, who offered us a great Sauvignon Blanc and a very quaffable Cabernet Sauvignon.

“But without the costs - to our client and the environment - of conventional bottling.”

Ollie Paginton, manager at Wilde’s, said: “We are impressed by the environmental and value-for-money argument, but the real test was the quality and freshness of the wine. We are delighted to report that our customers have embraced the new wines with the same enthusiasm as we have.”

The Los Lobos bag-in-box wines come with their own preservation and dispensing system: a cooler divided into compartments according to the serving temperature of each wine.

“It means we can quickly serve these wines in conventional glass measures as well as half litre and litre carafes, without wastage,” said Ollie. “It’s more practical for us - and more economical for our customers.”