This Pennsylvania red wine comes in a three-liter paint can

In the past decade, wine in a can has gone from mildly suspicious to fairly popular. You can get fairly nice wine in a convenient single-serve packaging, allowing for picnicking and gesturing wildly without spilling. But the people at Landenberg, Pa.’s Paradocx Vineyard have gone one step further: You can purchase their Barn Red wine in a three-liter paint can, complete with handle and spout.

The cans have been out since 2010, but they first caught our attention in 2020, when Craig LaBan wrote that “this “Barn Chic” twist on box wine, with the equivalent of four bottles stuffed into a paint can, is a great value.” Since then, the vineyard has intermittently offered this delightful wine-delivery mechanism in a variety of styles, and right now, the can of Barn Red is a brand new vintage in a can.

The can, which retails for $47.99, is, per the Vineyard, “medium bodied wine with aromas of red berries and plums combined with pleasant notes of oak.” Allegedly it is also “a blend of red grapes with resulting wine that is enjoyed on its own or with a variety of foods.” But I think what we all know deep down is that it is an incredible novelty to bring to a party and guarantees you will hear multiple jokes about “painting the town red.”

Would you personally try wine from a paint can? In fairness, there are much worse containers for alcohol. You can buy vodka in a bottle the shape of a skull or jalapeno and peanut butter whiskey (I know) in the shape of a large bullet. In the blessedly unhinged nation of Australia, there is a tradition called a “shoe-y” in which you remove the shoe from your foot, pour a beer in it, and then drink that beer from the shoe that has so recently been the main thing separating your body from the ground. It’s real: Kylie Minogue did one in 2024. In college, one of my friends would famously decant some tequila into a ziplock bag to bring to parties because bringing the bottle was “expensive, man.” (It was not.) I personally have drunk wine out of a vase when no cups were to be found. In short: Why not, I dare you.

Being in paint can is not even the weirdest thing red wine has ever done. At a recent party I witnessed a large contingent of people drinking — out of normal glasses — a concoction called “Gator wine” which is one half red wine and one half blue Gatorade, an echo of the Spanish Calimocho, but you know, dirtbag style. In comparison bringing a paint can of red wine seems a little tame. The new year is upon us, it is time to welcome in the novelties. Welcome to the party, Barn Red.