Wine from a tube. Could this resolve consumers’ hesitation to buy wines online?

I ran across an article briefly describing a new packaging for wine. WineSide, from France, is apparently producing “test tube” sample sizes for wine. The sizes offered are 6cl for whites and 10cl for reds which for us non-metrics, means about 2 to 3.5 ounces. Although these packages are not a full glass size yet, they do provide enough wine (more than you might get in a tasting room) to know if you would like to buy more. I foresee the application of these new micro-bottles of wine to be far reaching.

Firstly, shipping five samples of five different wines to try would be a cinch and cost effective. A customer could choose a sample pack before making a larger wine purchase to ensure they will like the wines. The cost of shipping the samples would probably be in the five dollar neighbor hood, (if the $3 adult signature fee was waived) and a seller would sell them for cheap hoping to convert a larger volume sale of wine after the customer tries the wine.

Secondly, these “wine tubes” could be the wine industry’s solution to the “problematics” of the 750 ml bottle. When you and your significant other crack a bottle of wine, you are making a commitment to four large glasses of the same wine. Yeah, you can “save” it sometimes with vacuum sealing gadgets and what not and crack another bottle to try something else in the same sitting, but what a pain in the ass! When you want a beer, you crack A beer, and you don’t have to drink a whole six pack. I imagine these little tubes could carry a chicness to them that a wine bottle brings but you could for example start the evening with a glass of Columbia Valley Rieslng, move to a Willamette Valley Pinot, and end with a rich, steak suiting, Napa Cabernet. You could have three seperate glasses from three separate wineries,regions and varietals, no spoilage and each bottle was just as fresh as the next! Other attempts have been made to deal with this issue such as canned single pack sparkling wine, or small little gallo bottles but these tubes are sexy enough to catch on! What do you think?

Single Serve bottles, Canned Sparkling Wine, and Boxed Wine, alternatives to the 750 ml