Carbon footprint of winemaking

 

Source: https://www.decanter.com/magazine/climate-change-rethinking-your-drinking-467605/

Viticulture is not always an environmentally friendly proposition. There’s been more focus recently on making wine production less energy intensive, sustainable and environmentally responsible. There has been a movement to reduce fuel, water and nutrient consumption in the vineyard by introducing sustainable biodynamic practices. In the winery, efforts are underway to reduce fuel and electricity consumption, to find more environmentally friendly packaging, and improve the carbon footprint of transport.

Glass bottles are heavy, take a lot of energy to produce and use a lot a fuel to transport. They are also not recycled or reused as often as they should be. So, many people are looking at alternatives, including natural fibers like hemp, corrugated and paper with food-safe PET liners. That doesn't sound terribly good for the environment either. Yes, they are much lighter than glass and would save a lot of costs on transport. 

Garçon Wines’ Eco Flat bottle is made from recycled PET and their Flaca wine is shipped in a box that is shaped to fit in a letterbox for gift giving. Seems like a lot of waste to me, but at least it's all recyclable. 

My goal will be to make our wine bottles fully reusable, with labels that can be very easily removed. In fact, our production will be small enough to remain local so that we don't ship far and wide, we promote the local economy, and customers return the bottle to our site for refill. Kind of like milk bottles were in my childhood. I like that idea. Of course, it has to be good wine for customers to come back. 

Skyrocketing costs

Shortages in glass have become the number 1 issue in winemaking. Due to pandemic supply issues, sourcing bottles has become problematic and prices of glass have reportedly quadrupled. Even worse, shipping has gone through the roof in the US and around the world so, even if you can source the bottles, getting them delivered is insane. From $1,200 to ship $50,000 worth of goods in 2019 the costs have increased to $20,000 to ship the same consignment in 2022. 

This conundrum is fueling the drive to sell ultra premium wine boxed. Out of necessity comes innovation. The boxes are easily recycled and some are even reusable. The bladders keep the wine from exposure to air. Despite the reputation that boxed wine is cheap wine, it's actually not a bad option, except for the plastic bladder. I wonder if anyone has conducted a study of whether the plastic leaches into the wine?