Since 2017, High Camp has established itself as a go-to for rugged vessels built to carry and serve spirits and cocktails in the great outdoors. Problem is, not everyone drinks liquor. The company now has an equally slick solution for adventurous wine lovers who want to enjoy their favorite vintage while venturing off the beaten path.
The Parkside Flask 750 stores a full bottle's worth of wine between two removable wine tumblers, keeping it at proper temperature with a rugged vacuum-insulated construction. It looks like an ideal way of enjoying wine while camping, picnicking, tailgating and participating in an other activity that makes a combination of glass bottle and fine stemware an immediate liability.
Unlike beer (cans, not to mention cooler tubes and powder), wine doesn't play so nicely with outdoor recreation. Glass bottles and glasses simply aren't built to survive rattling Jeep trips down washboard roads or precarious river rock traverses.
Not only is traditional wine gear quite fragile, it's awkward to pack. You might end up spending an unthinkable amount of time trying to effectively squeeze that bottle of Riesling into a cooler with the rest of the food and drink, only to eventually fail and have to remove it and wrap it in a puffy jacket in an attempt to keep it from rolling, falling or otherwise shattering. And then you'll arrive and realize you forgot the damn corkscrew.
Or maybe that's just me. Either way, wine can be a chore when it comes to leaving the confines of home or restaurant.
There are already plenty of products that attempt to solve the problem, from traditional bota bags and more modern collapsible soft-plastic carafes, to metal and plastic wine tumblers, with or without stems. High Camp's take is particularly well-integrated and looks like it could be a natural #1 for anyone serious about regularly carrying wine on the move.
Essentially a reworked version of High Camp's signature Firelight whiskey flask, the Parkside 750 is a shapely stainless steel wine bottle capped at each end by a 300-ml (10.5-oz) tumbler shaped roughly like the bowl of a wine glass. The Parkside bottle is perfectly sized to hold a standard 750-ml (25.4-oz) bottle's worth of wine, using a wide-mouth design for easy no-funnel fill-up. When loaded, a cap attaches to the mouth to keep the wine secure. High Camp says the electropolished interior steel on both the flask and tumbler prevents any unwanted impacts on the wine's taste.
The Parkside 750 is vacuum-insulated to maintain temperature for up to 24 hours, so there's no reason to try to squeeze it into the cooler so long as you chill wine styles that need chillin' before pouring them into the flask. And whatever the proper serving temperature for the wine in question, the vacuum-insulated design will help prevent overheating out in the sun or hot car.
Made from double-walled 18/8 stainless steel, all three components of the Parkside 750 are ready to hold up to any accidental drops or dings that come their way. The tumblers attach to the bottle via the same patented magnetic-lock system High Camp introduced on the Firelight flask, ensuring secure transport before popping off easily when needed. The full package stands about the same height as a typical wine bottle at 12.3 inches (31 cm) tall, but the top tumbler evens out the thin neck into a more symmetrical, tube-like package.
High Camp announced the new Parkside line last month and plans to have all colors of the US$125 Parkside 750 ready to ship this week. High Camp also offers the half-bottle Parkside 375 with single tumbler for $89.
Source: High Camp