Wine

Wine of the Week: DEFY Organic White Wine

Introduced earlier this year, DEFY’s organic Italian white wine is now available in 250ml slimline cans. A UK-based wine company, DEFY was launched with a hope to challenge the snobbery that often surrounds good wine, ultimately putting lots of people off. To put this into place, the company defies conventions, to bring good quality, organic wine to the modern consumer; delivered in convenient and sustainable packaging. It’s described as “a reinvention of wine that defies what’s come before”.

On the launch of DEFY, founder and owner Leslie Owensby said: “There are a lot of people out there that crave quality, but have no time or interest in the traditions or wine. At the same time they are concerned about the planet and value design.”

One of DEFY’s selling points is the size of each can. Each containing 250ml (two glasses) of wine, the cans encourage consumers to avoid waste. With open bottles of wine tending to last for an absolute maximum of four-to-five days before spoiling, if people want to drink just one glass, the rest of the bottle is often wasted. In the aluminium cans, the wine remains fresh, with the size providing consumers with a choice: to open just one can and have a glass or two, or to drink a whole bottle’s worth (or more).

Like boxed wine and canned cocktails, public perception of canned wine isn’t always favourable. Over the past few years, however, the exponentially growing category has burgeoned, with a good collection of excellent canned wines now readily available as canning technology continues to dramatically improve. Most of the world’s best craft beers are also served in cans nowadays, with water-based polymer used to line aluminium cans, removing the metallic taste. In addition to comprising high quality wine, the DEFY packaging is 100 percent recyclable, and ultimately far better for the planet and delivery services than glass bottles. A four-pack case, for instance, includes one and one-third bottle’s worth but with packaging still weighs less than a single bottle of wine on its own.

Made in Abruzzo, using locally grown grapes, the DEFY Organic Italian White Wine is vegan-friendly and Soil Association certified in the UK. This particular wine is ideal for all occasions, though the can makes it particularly portable; great for drinks in the park, as lockdown begins to ease. Typical Pecorino minerality and bracing acidity are prevalent, plus some tartness which lingers on the crisp, dry finish.

DEFY Organic White Wine is available to order from the brand’s website.

Jon Hatchman

Jonathan is Food Editor for The London Economic. Jonathan has run and contributed towards a number of blogs, and has written features for publications such as Eater London, The Guardian, i News, The Independent, GQ, Time Out London and more.

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