Pre-filled wine glasses aim to be summer hit

They could be the answer to the summer festival dilemma for non-beer drinkers and solve the problem of what to do when you forget the corkscrew: ready-filled plastic glasses of wine.

Originally designed for caterers who serve wine at outdoor events, the pre-filled foil sealed glasses of wine are to go on sale this summer. The glasses, called the Tulipa, will cut service time and breakages, according to Al Fresco Wines which created them. Each Tulipa is filled with wine in the UK and then sealed with foil to keep the drink fresh.



The glasses will initially be available filled with shiraz and chardonnay from southern Australia plus a Californian rosé under the Trencherman brand.

Twin packs of the Tulipas are set to go on sale in UK stores in around three months' time, priced at £3.75 per pair.

Al Fresco has invested around £500,000 developing plastic wine glasses for picnic and festival lovers, according to trade magazine The Grocer. While the introduction of screw-top bottles has gone some way to solving the problem of how to uncork a bottle when nobody remembers to bring a corkscrew to a picnic, the new pre-filled glasses are aimed at doing away with bottles completely.