Does wine taste different from a can?

The can does NOT change the flavor of wine inside. Having said that, flavor is heavily influenced by aroma, so just as the same wine tastes different from different shaped glasses (yes, it really does!), it will also taste different straight from the can vs. poured into a glass. The wine itself is not changing, just our perception of its different characteristics. Interestingly, in some cases, canned wine might actually TASTE BETTER that wine in a bottle. UV light rays that permeate glass bottles (light strike) can change the flavors of the wine inside in as little as a few hours. Chemical compounds in corks can also be transferred to wine (cork taint), ruining it. Cans eliminate both of these risks!

What does climate positive really mean?

CLIMATE POSITIVE (also known as “carbon negative”) means that we remove more greenhouse gases from the earth’s atmosphere than we add. Simply put, every time we sell wine, the environment is a tiny bit better as a result. The more wine we sell, the bigger impact we have! The climate has already gone through some drastic changes, so we don’t feel that being carbon neutral is enough — we don’t just want to halt climate change, we want to reverse it.

Aren’t all canned wines environmentally responsible?

Yes and no. The glass wine bottle is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the wine production process, so any winery that is breaking with this tradition is doing something positive for the environment. What makes us different is that we take a comprehensive approach to our mission, and cans are just one part of that. The environmental benefits of cans are integral in our choice to use them, not an afterthought or a marketing point. Cans are also not our endgame — we are constantly looking for ways to better serve the environment, so don’t be surprised if you get your Protector Cellars wine in a different package a few years down the road.

I visited a carbon neutral winery — how is that different from what you’re doing?

Many wineries are installing solar panels or wind turbines so they don’t have to rely on dirty sources of energy. Such steps should be applauded and encouraged! In some cases, these wineries produce enough energy to support their entire winemaking operations. In the life-cycle of a wine, the winemaking operations account for roughly 10% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. So a carbon neutral winery may be reducing its emissions by about 10% (which is still awesome!), while we are effectively reducing ours by more than 100%. Pretty big difference.

Why Aren’t you more specific about which vineyards you work with?

We work with vineyards who grow grapes that end up in some pretty expensive wines. Part of our deal with these vineyards is that we don’t mention them, so that the producers of said expensive wines don’t call them up wanting to know how we are able to make such reasonably priced wines from their expensively farmed grapes…

Why Are Your Can Labels Made of Plastic?

This one really chafes our… you know. The companies that make aluminum cans only offer printed cans if you order a very large quantity. This is why most craft breweries have plastic labels either stuck to, or wrapping their cans. The good news is that you can still recycle the cans as usual. The even better news is that as soon as we are producing enough wine to buy printed cans, the labels are gone! Help us get there faster by buying some more wine!