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Wine Casks
The modern Wind Cask
Far more convenient than the alternatives.
William Thomas Angroves invented the first cask
Angroves Wines returned to Wine Cask in 1984 using the new improved design developed by Penfolds
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Wine is a popular alcoholic beverage that has been popular in many cultures for centuries. Wine goes bad when exposed to air so many methods have been used to try to prevent air exposure including storing in glass bottles, wooden barrels, stone jugs and even animal skins.
In 1965 William Angroves of Angove's, winemakers and distillers, of Renmark in South Australia invented a cask with a resealable plastic spout but stopped marketing it in 1971 due to unreliability. In 1972 another Australian wine company called Penfords improved on the design by adding a tap and placing plastic bag into a cardboard box.
The bag was placed in the cardboard box and an easy to press out opening was created so that the tap could be pulled through on first use. The tap then remained outside the box to allow for easy access.
The wine filled bag inside the cardboard box would collapse as wine was poured out maintaining the air vacuum thus keeping the remaining contents from being exposed to air. This greatly extended the storage of the wine and allowed larger quantities to be sold at a time without the requirement to immediately drink it once it was opened.
The square packaging is also more convenient and much lighter than other available means of wine distribution. It is easier to store and not as prone to breakage as glass.
The Wine Cask became extremely popular and is used by every major wine producer and is also now being used for other beverages including orange juice.
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The first wine cash was invented by William Thomas Angrove who applied for and received a patent for the idea on 20th April, 1965.
The title of the invention was 'improved container and pack for liquids'. Up to then the bulk of wine in Australia was sold in bottles and glass flagons. The half gallon glass flagon was susceptible to breakage and the wine, being exposed to air after opening, deteriorated in quality if not consumed fairly quickly.
This startling innovation was a soft flexible bag, sealed without any air space, which collapsed as wine was withdrawn, thus protecting the remaining wine from air spoilage. The cubical shape of the cardboard container was not only space and transport economical but also protected the bag of wine from a fair degree of rough handling. Initially there were problems with trace leaks through the membrane and in pouring but over the years these improved, especially with a new tapping device in the early 80s.
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