Wonders of Wine and Food

Caesar salad is one of the most popular and well-known salads in the world. The ingredients and preparation are very simple yet to be correct a balance of all the ingredients and order of assembly must be followed. There was also a very special presentation of the famous salad. The Original Classic Cease Salad is not just a recipe but there is a special technique to tossing it

Remember when the waiter or  Maître D  would wheel a table with all the ingredients to your table and prepare your salad with style and grace. Where did those days go? Why was the salad reduced to numerous varieties of the original receipt?

The popularity of this salad around the world is most likely due to a man that bears the salad's name, Caesar Cardini.  Frech Romaine lettuce was the key. Only the leaf was used, not the stem. Today the restaurants use the steam, they sneak in other types of lettuce and offer the salad up as a substitute to french fries.

They have successfully destroyed the joys of ordering a caesar salad. Sacrilegious!

Now the winemakers of today have shown the same lack of respect to their wines. Wines do not belong in a can. It is sacrilegious to do so.

Some resources claim the first wine in a can appeared in 1996. Humbug I saw it on my honeymoon in 1992. It failed back then to gather a following.

A current article claims Barokes Wines of Australia was first to introduce wines in a can. Barokes Wines was founded by Steve Barics and Greg Stokes, reputedly after narrowly avoiding an experience involving a shattered wineglass and a spa. They saw wine in a can as a solution to all those situations where glasses and bottles were either forbidden or ill-advised.

Francis Ford Coppa produced a can wine in 2002. It was at first successful but faded quickly.

My research goes back to 1935. Acampa Wines from Lodi Ca put their wines in a can. Bear Creek Vineyards, also of Lodi soon followed.

It is not clear when can wines were introduced in Europe. They are not at popular there with the exception of Germany. Japan also seems to be supporting can wines. Moncigale, a French wine company is promoting the use of cans for their Rose. They say cans are better as they keep the wine "cooler" than a wine glass. Thus provide better flavours. 

Moncigale receives wine from around 300 winemakers and co-operatives and is in partnership with a young firm which patented a method of making cans adapted for wines. “The cans are of very thin aluminium with a special coating baked on to cope with the wine’s acidity and to make sure the packaging is absolutely neutral and does not affect the taste. They also have a bit of nitrogen added to make sure the wine does not oxidise and that also gives a bit of a ‘psscht’ noise when the can is opened.”

Canada, sadly, seems to have developed a desire to place their wines in cans starting in 2020. And we all know how popular 2020 is.

One Ontario writer gives brothers Greg and Yannick Wertsch, owners of Ontario’s Between the Lines Winery, credit for starting can wine in Canada.

Castoro de Oro is said to be the first Okanagan winery to produce wines in a can. I love their wines but cans no thank you!  I believe the View produced a can wine before this called Bing. But to each their own. 

Next time you are out enjoying a five-star diner and the waiter brings your wine in a can, enjoy the moment!

An improperly made caesar salad and a can of wine just $30.99 at a restaurant near you, enjoy!