Wine On Tap is the New Green Trend

Northridge, CA (PRWEB) August 27, 2012

Kegs arent just for beer anymore. Wine in a keg is the hottest trend popping up in restaurants across the country.

Long popular in Europe, kegged wine has both environmental and economical advantages over its traditional, bottled relatives. A wine keg takes up far less packaging and storage space than the 26 bottles that hold the equivalent amount of wine. Wine kegs are reusable for more than 20 years, and dont require the bottles, corks, labels, and cases that bottled wine needs to be delivered.

Switching to kegs would mean keeping millions of bottles out of landfills every year. Kegs are also much lighter to transport than the equivalent amount of wine bottles. The reduced weight helps lower transportation carbon emissions. Currently, weight accounts for one third to one half of transportation carbon emissions in the wine industry.

Kegged wine is also more effective in reducing overhead cost. Wine by the glass accounts for 80% of a restaurants wine sales. But since opened bottles only keep fresh for a day or so, a typical restaurant loses 25% of its bottle profit by throwing out half-empty bottles that theyve sold only a glass or two from.

Kegged wine doesnt have this problem. When a keg is tapped, the contents are pressurized with an inert gas that doesnt react with the wine or affect taste. The pressurized wine keg system prevents oxygen from reaching the wine, therefore eliminating the process of oxidation.

In normal glass bottles, oxidation begins the moment the cork is removed and oxygen touches the wine. Allowing the wine to breathe in a glass or while sitting on the table is fine. Over time, an average bottle of red wine will get corked with oxygen filling the open space in the bottle. As a result of oxidation, the open bottle of wine goes bad within a week.

Kegged wine, due to its inert gases and pressurized system, stays fresh for up to a year. Restaurants that serve wine from a keg never have to worry about customers sending it back because the quality has decreased, and therefore enjoy higher sales as well as more satisfied patrons.

Restaurants interested in serving kegged wine will need the right equipment. Micro Matic has a large variety of wine certified components essential to having a great wine keg system in your bar or restaurant.

Micro Matics Pro-Line Wine Dual-Temperature Dispensing systems can hold four or eight wine kegs at a time, increasing efficiency and storage. These wine keg dispensing systems keep whites and reds at the ideal temperatures for serving: 45