Beginning April 1, the opening day of Major League Baseball, select stadiums will offer wine in single-serve plastic glasses for fans. Fetzer Vineyards, Hopland, Calif., partnered with Zipz Inc. to package its wines in 100-percent recyclable, 187-ml polyethylene terephthalate (PET) glasses, which are ideal for use at stadiums, convention centers, special events and more, the companies say. As part of this partnership, Stamford, Conn.-based Centerplate, a provider of food and beverage services in the North American sports and entertainment industry, collaborated with Fetzer and Zipz to bring this offering to select stadiums across the country.
"We believe that wine drinkers will appreciate a high-quality wine in a convenient, well-designed, single-serve glass at the park," said Centerplate Chief Design Officer John Sergi in a statement.
The wines will initially be available at San Francisco's AT&T Park, Seattle's Safeco Field and Tampa Bay, Fla.'s Tropicana Field. Additionally, Centerplate and Fetzer have plans to expand the foodservice distribution of the wines through menus at Centerplate's major and minor league ballparks, NFL stadiums and convention centers this year.
The Fetzer wines will be available in Crimson Red Blend and Quartz White Blend varieties and will be the first wines released through the partnership. Other wines under the Zipz brand will follow the release. To consume the wine, fans must pull the tab on the Zipz Clean Wrap outer layer, unzip the wrap, remove the lid, snap the lid on the bottom of the glass, and peel off the lift 'n' peel seal.
Fetzer's Crimson and Quartz wines will cost between $9 and $11 at stadiums across the country. Fetzer also plans to roll out the product to grocery retailers this summer.
