Consumer evaluation of wine is strongly driven by whether it is packaged in bottles of cans, a new study finds.

Canned wine may be better positioned around specific consumption occasions and younger wine styles, while premium positioning in traditional markets will require stronger credibility signals and expectation management to prevent top-down penalties from dominating the tasting experience.

Canned wine is moving from a niche concept to a credible commercial format, supported by clear advantages related to logistics, portability and sustainability. But, in traditional wine-producing regions, the can often clashes with established quality codes built around glass bottles, appellations and ritualized consumption, the study found. 

A total of 125 non-professional wine consumers from the traditional Rioja wine-producing region participated in a controlled tasting session. Two young wines (one white Viura and one red Tempranillo Tinto) were evaluated under two conditions: “bottle” vs “can.” The wines were always poured from the same bottle, thus the intrinsic product did not change; only the packaging information provided to participants differed. Identical label designs were used for the two formats, and the corresponding container (a 125 mL bottle or a 200 mL can) was placed in front of the glass to reinforce the context. 

The study found that for white wines, the can may be broadly acceptable, except among the most engaged, tradition-oriented consumers.

But the study also found that packaging cues influence how consumers describe the sensory characteristics of the wines, even though the wine never contacted aluminum. This is a clear top-down effect: consumers perceive the wine through an expectation filter created by the container format.

Across all consumers, white wine labelled as canned was described as being lower in white/yellow fruit and more metallic than the same wine labelled as bottled. For red wine, the can label also shifted sensory perception. Compared to bottled, canned red wine was described as more aqueous and more metallic, and as lower in black fruit and less toasted.

The study, "Canned wine in a traditional region: how expectations and consumer involvement shape perception," appears in OENO One.