Would you buy a glass of wine that was poured from a tap? We are happy to do it with beer, so why not wine?
In a business not noted for innovation, Ronan Farrell and Richie Byrne stand out. Thirteen years ago, they set up a company called Winelab. You are unlikely to have heard of it because it supplies its products exclusively to hotels, restaurants and off-licences. However, you have probably tried its wines, as it has 500 customers around the country.
While it offers an interesting range of wines in bottles as well as craft beer, its main business is selling wine and cocktails on tap. For some restaurateurs, and consumers too, it is a step too far. They believe wine must come in a bottle, and inventions such as canned wine, bag in box or wine from a tap take away the mystique and premium image we have of wine. But they seem to be in a minority.
Wine on tap makes sense, and not just for cheap wines either. Winelab installs the equipment and delivers the wine to a restaurant, hotel or bar in a small keg holding the equivalent of 26 bottles. Empty kegs are collected and recycled.
It creates far less waste, with no leftover half-filled bottles, no corked or faulty wine, and the last glass is as fresh and good as the first. It is also a much quicker and more efficient way of serving a glass of wine or a cocktail in a busy bar.
Savvy restaurants and bars use it as a pouring or house wine, as you can offer it by the glass or in carafes of various sizes. So, is there consumer resistance? Certainly, bag in box, a more sustainable and flexible way to buy wine for home consumption, has not been hugely popular in this country.
Winelab now offers more than 60 wines and 20 cocktails on tap. Sensibly, it goes to great lengths to buy high-quality wines so that customers can never complain about the wine in their glass.
“Today, we see very little resistance,” says Farrell. “In 2013, when we started, it was a huge surprise to everyone, and there was always a hard-core who didn’t get it. At this stage, there are very few calls we would do and receive a negative reply.
“The real shift has been people’s willingness to stock premium wines tap. We now have wines selling at €15 per glass. We now have 2,500 taps in Ireland, north and south. We reckon we probably have more taps per capita than anywhere in the world!”
