Bottling Wine In Plastic Bottles?

I know, I know....glass is problably better with a cork. Its definitely less trashy.

Question is, if there is a problem or issue bottling wine in plastic "pop bottles" and using the screw top. I've done it with cider...I'm just wondering if there is some issue I haven't heard of. It seems like it would be a good way to go as you dont have to worry about corks and such. Has anyone tried this or had problems with it?

I bottle wine in plastic bottles. You won't impress your friends and probably can't reuse the bottles after but I can't see any problems. Its certainly easier than corks, though purists won't approve.

how long are you trying to age this wine? I cannot see aging a year in cheap plastic bottles.

I suppose the wine would be consumed within a year, I just don't know why you couldn't or shouldn't keep it longer in plastic. I've only made one wine so far and its an apple wine at around 11.5% alcohol. Does anyone know if the wine acutally affects the plastic in some way?

I know that some producers of premium wine are now using plastic bottles for reasons of weight and sustainability. I can't see any problem so long as it is stored away from light, though I don't have any facts to back this up.

If you use plastic bottles there needs to be a barrier material in there to stop oxidisation, most soda bottles won't have this.
The bottles being used by wine makers do have this in them, that's the main difference, as plastic is somewhat oxygen permeable.

EoinMag said:

If you use plastic bottles there needs to be a barrier material in there to stop oxidisation, most soda bottles won't have this.
The bottles being used by wine makers do have this in them, that's the main difference, as plastic is somewhat oxygen permeable.

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yep. all plastic is not created equal.

I'd wager money that those commercial wines are in PET bottles, which is not the same stuff a bottle of Pepsi comes in.

Because common plastic bottle does not have a better permeability, beer contained in common plastic bottle has a shorter guarantee period comparing with that contained in glass bottle or metal cans ( ring –pull tin ). If the permeability of PET bottle can be improved without increasing its cost too much, it is bound to have an even broader prospect for development in beer package industry.

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Also Wine in PET bottles: will plastic replace glass?

It seems there are problems with O2 permeability but that is actually an advantage in the short to medium term, permeable plastics are widely used in the wine industry to mimic barrel ageing, and barrels are actually discarded when they become less permeable.
However the properties of large containers are quite different to small containers so if you put wine in plastic you would have to drink it within a couple of years.

I read the article.....very interesting, I wouldn't have thought plastic is permeable. Now after reading about plastic bottles and alchohol possible leaching weird things out of it....I'm thinking I'm going to grow a third arm out my back after drinking all this cider in plastic pop bottles.......

This article was in the Sydney newspaper this morning.

Plastic not fantastic for wine - Good Living - Entertainment - smh.com.au

The study found that in the short-term, wine stored in glass and plastic tasted similar, but the wine stored in the plastic bottles started to deteriorate after about eight months and is best consumed within 12 months of bottling.

The polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles are permeable to air, which oxidises the wine. Wine bottlers can limit the amount of oxygen that enters the bottle with an oxygen scavenger - sachets containing material including fine iron powder covered with sea salt - but these are effective for only about 12 months.

"Oxygen permeates the wine and it becomes oxidised," Portavin managing director Ian Matthews said

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Homemade wine is often bottled in a "reductive" state (the opposite of oxidised) in which case there may be short term benefit from using plastic bottles, but generally if you want to age your wine don't use plastic bottles.

Well, this was a good thread for me and hopefully others. I never would have guessed plastic would effect oxidation. Good to know.

A new twist on plastic bottles for wine.

WineMags - grapegrowersvignerons

Yes, yes. I bottle in 1L PET bottles. And yes, pepsi puts their stuff in type 1 plastic bottles, aka PET plastic.
So far, the oldest stuff I've drunk is about 20-22 months old. I start counting when I pitch the yeast. I've yet to drink anything that tastes like oxidized wine is described to taste like.
I'm not going to change to glass any time soon, because I have easier access to plastic bottles than glass bottles.

Some cider I bottled in march I put in plastic and glass. I noticed a definite difference recently. The cider in glass has a "fresher" more apply taste, a bit sharper on the tongue, while in plastic it had a smoother, more complex flavour, a kind of accelerated ageing. These were 750ml plastic bottles, in larger bottles the oxidation would be slower. I do think that in the short term plastic bottles are beneficial for wine.
The oxidation you get, being slower and more controlled, is different to the accidental oxidation that happens with bad seals or racking. Instead of that nasty acetaldehyde taste the wine gets darker and loses fruit flavours.

I am not sure that this analogy works, but I can you for certain from anecdotal research that spaghetti sauce sold in plastic bottles gets nasty and glass does not. Also, those of us who remember drinking from glass pepsi bottles will tell you that the plastic bottle crap is not nearly as good, though there are several possible reasons for that, some of which I don't have the stomach to talk about.