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The Dtour Macon-Village comes in a 3-liter cylinder, priced at $37.

From Wine in a Box to Wine in a Tube

Dominique Lafon, Daniel Johnnes and Daniel Boulud try to demystify French wine

Bruce Sanderson
Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2005

First we get rid of the corks, then the bottles. That's the idea behind a new wine from vintner Dominique Lafon, of Burgundy's Domaine des Comtes Lafon, sommelier Daniel Johnnes and chef Daniel Boulud, both from New York.

The three are pursuing a new direction with Dtour Macon-Villages 2004. The French white wine comes in a cardboard cylinder that contains a 3-liter collapsible bag. A little shorter than a 750ml bottle and not much larger in volume, the cylinder dispenses the wine either standing or lying on its side. The suggested retail price is $37, which amounts to less than $10 per bottle.

"The idea is to make more than a wine, to make an impact," said Johnnes, who notes that the name of the wine is a play on the partners' first initials and suggests a deviation from the normal way of doing things. "It's really good wine, great technology and you can keep it in the fridge and have a glass or two every day." Johnnes has tried the wine over time and claims that it remains fresh for four weeks.

The wine also stays cold, because the cardboard insulates the bag. "So you can chill it down and go on a picnic," said Johnnes.

The wine shows good regional character, exhibiting fresh, crisp-apple and mineral flavors on a medium-bodied frame. The equivalent of 800 9-liter cases will debut in November in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland. The partners also hope to launch a red wine in the future.

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