DAN'S WINE BLOG

2024-09-20

CARDBOARD BOTTLE

This week as sprinkling of news from around the world of wine, starting with amazing news that A French company Green gen Technologies which was “incubated” by LVMH is launching a new wine bottle made from a cardboard casing of plant fibres containing a plastic liner which shrinks/collapses as the bottle is emptied (like a cask BiB bladder).

Weighing 130 grams all up, including the closure, it as around 1/3 the weight of “normal” glass bottles, which weigh from around 330gms up to 700gms for the ultra-heavy/fancy ones. The aim being to substantially lower the wine industry’s carbon footprint, of which packaging currently accounts for around 40-45%.

The plastic neck/closure is twisted (by hand) off the cardboard body and each section can be put into the relevant recycle bin, making it 100% recyclable.

If a winery orders over 1,600 bottles they can ad a range of colours to the carboard casing making the bottles stand out further from the crowd.

Photo credit DR

NEW YORK CITY VINEYARD

As Paul Greenberg reports in Wine Enthusiast- there is a small vineyard thriving in New York City, within sight of Ground Zero- where the twin towers stood before 9/11. The terrace of apartment on the corner of Broadway and Maiden Lane, acquired a year after 9/11, has been converted into a vineyard, planted with Frontenac & Concord vines sourced from the NY finger lakes district. After some early winemaking attempts, drinkable wines were eventually made, and are still being made.

CALORIE LABELLING

Whilst it is still voluntary in the UK, nearly half of all alcoholic products already carry calorie labelling, and I would suggest that it would be a good idea for Australian wineries to start investigating/researching this, as it will only be a matter of time before they become mandatory here.

There will come a time when wine will have to carry a product information panel like the ones on most food items in the supermarket, so it behoves us to plan and prepare for it rather than being caught out when it eventually becomes law- as it will.

UK WINE

For the first time the UK has hit over 1,000 vineyards (hard to imagine) with 21.6 million bottles of wine produced in 2023, from 90 different grape varieties. Led by Chardonnay, Pinot Noir & Pinot Meunier, the varieties grown include many hybrids and some PIWIS (new fungal infection resistant varieties), such as Seyval Blanc, Solaris, Regent & Rondo.

WineGB advises that 76% of all wine produced was sparkling, with 2/3 of the rest being white, 20% Rose and a mere 13% red wines.

Have a great week, remember to always #chooseaustralianwine and when possible enjoy #emergingvarieties.

Cheers Dan T