That's not beer on tap. That's wine!
Customers come in every single night, see the taps behind the bar and naturally ask, “What kind of beers do you have on tap?” I show them my list of bottled beers and tell them that we don’t have beer on tap. It’s wine. I always love the look of shock and confusion my customers give me in response to my answer. My answer always sparks a conversation on our Wine On Tap program.
Wine On Tap is a new and innovative way of serving wine by the glass here in the Bay Area. There are currently only a handful of bars/restaurants with a Wine On Tap program in the area. The bar/restaurant I bartend at and am the bar manager of, Coda (1710 Mission Street, San Francisco) is one of them.
A customer’s reaction is typical every time I introduce them to our Wine On Tap program, assuming that the wine in tap is boxed wine. Boxed wine? No. Not even close. The wine we serve on tap is wine that has come straight from a wineries barrel, into our keg.
Here is how the process works. The keg arrives at our business full of wine straight from a barrel from a local winery. The keg is then hooked up to the keg and tap system. The system is very similar to the keg and tap system for beer, only instead this system is a low pressure system that uses nitrogen to push the wine from keg to the tap and fills the empty space in the keg with the gas so that oxygen never reaches the wine stored inside of the keg.
We have two coolers for our wine, one cooler for red and one cooler for white. The white wines are kept in the cooler at 46 degrees. The red wine cooler is kept at 58 degrees. Once the wine reaches a customer’s glass, the temperature is raised by two degrees, allowing for the appropriate temperature for the wine to be served at.
Being green is all the rage these days, especially here in San Francisco. Apartment buildings and businesses now have compost bins in addition to garbage and recycling bins. People are sporting their reusable cloth bags for grocery shopping. Having wine on tap fits into the being green category. It reduces the amount of bottles and corks that are thrown out, eliminates all of the packaging used for shipping and allows the reuse of kegs. And because the business is buying wine in bulk, the result is lower prices for both the business and the customer.
Besides the green factor, the Wine On Tap system helps to guarantee that every glass of wine served from
the tap will never be spoiled. Wine can remain in its original state from the winery, in a keg, for up to six months. Once a bottle of wine is opened, there is only a small window of opportunity where the product inside the bottle remains unspoiled. After a couple of days of being opened, the wine becomes spoiled and has to be thrown out. This wastage results in a higher mark up for wine by the glass, ultimately affecting the customer’s wallet.
For my doubtful customers, I always offer a small tasting of the wine. I can talk to customers until I am blue in the face about the benefits of serving wine on tap, but in the end, I know that it’s the wine that will sell itself and it always does.
Currently at Coda, we offer four wines on tap: Chardonnay (Truchard Estate, Carneros, 2008), Rose (Sutton Winery, Rattlesnake, 2008), Pinot Noir, Saintsbury, Carneros, 2008) and Cabernet (Miner Family Napa, 2008). Wines on tap by the glass range in price from $6.50 to $12. We also offer each of the wines by a 750 mL carafe (just like purchasing a full bottle of wine). Prices for carafes range from $26 to $48.
As our kegs run out, we will be replenishing our wine list with a variety of new wines from other local wineries. Just as fruits and vegetables come in and out of season, so will our wine list. Having the Wine On Tap system allows our business to always offer a new variety of wine to our vino-drinking customers, at a sweet deal of a price.
Comments
Oh, that's fantastic! No more running out of a bottle mid glass, no more breaking or crumbling corks and no more trying to stock enough "wine of the night" behind the bar that you can never predict!
What about cleaning the lines?
How often are they cleaned?
What chemical is used?
Really good information on how wines on tap work.
Very informative and well written. I have bartended and learned a few working tidbits from this. I too was wondering about cleaning the lines but merely out of curiosity. Have to look up where we have wine on tap here in New York. Ur insight is truly remarkable.
Ronan,
The lines in the keg and tap system were replaced with special wine lines. They are special in the sense that nothing sticks to the inside of the lines, therefore there aren't any chemicals required for cleaning.
Hi!! I am in the Business school at the University of Maryland. In my business management class, my teacher told us to get in groups and design a business plan that we think will be successful. We finally decided on an on-tap wine bar. By doing this, we can sell wine at more affordable prices, build a larger wine-drinking network, and become a national "coolest bar ever" name. I came across your article while searching for information. Our teacher was skeptical about wine staying fresh in the kegs. We would love to use you as a viable source!! Any information or advice you can give us on our "company" would be amazing. We also had a specific question about the wine kegs -- how do we offer a variety of wines? One of our concerns was that unlike a bottle system, kegs would take up too much room in a bar to offer a large variety.
Thank you so much!
Mar,
Since we introduced our wine on tap program 2 months ago, I have turned a lot of customers on to it and they love it! Offering wine on tap has a lot of benefits. First, there is the green aspect because there is no bottle or cork waste. Second, because the wine is bought in bulk, businesses are able to pass on the savings to the customers. And of course, pouring wine on tap is a whole lot easier and faster than having to open a bottle several times during the night.
As far as wine staying "fresh", it's the same idea as beer remaining fresh in kegs. We use gas (just like a keg and tap system) to help the wine not go flat or spoil as the keg is empties out.
We keep our kegs behind the bar in their own separate coolers. One cooler for white and one for red. Obviously space becomes an issue when installing a system like this so you really have to plan ahead.
Feel free to use me as a source. If you have any more questions, you can always email me at kathleen@xploitedproduct
hank you for your piece about wines on tap. I am a winemaker from the Central Coast and planning on beginning a small wine keg business for the Monterey area. Could you explain more about the lines used for the wine distribution? Did your bar purchase the tap equipment or did the place that provided you with the kegs do this?
I appreciate your help and input and hope you have a great New Year.
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