DAN'S WINE BLOG- ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE

Friday, December 16, 2022

?Here are a few minor environmental issues/advances from across the wide world of wine that you may have not heard off yet.

?LOSING ONE’S BOTTLE!:?The voice/clamour for alternative wine packaging solutions has just got several dozen decibels louder. British wine legends, Jancis Robinson MW and Hugh Johnson, along with around 40 other well known wine professionals published an open letter (see link below). The group calling themselves, “Wine Traders for Alternative Formats (WTAF), is calling for the wine industry to walk away from glass bottles and adopt other more environmentally, friendly forms of wine packaging. They estimate that Britain’s wine carbon footprint would be reduced by around one-third, or the equivalent of having 350,000 less cars on the road each year.

?The formats that could/should replace glass bottles include: 1.0 litre casks (Bag in the Box), cans, pouches, paper bottles and plastic wine bottles made out of recycled plastic, such as the innovative Packamama slim-line PET bottles, which also save space and reduce the transportation carbon footprint.

?Other sections of the European wine trade are calling for the development of reusable wine bottles, however there are issues and perceptions to be overcome with the re-using of glass bottles. Are you old enough to remember the reusing of wine flagons?

?In the meantime, there is a slight but growing trend towards the use of lighter-weight glass wine bottles, with new lighter-weight premium bottles becoming available and some European glass producers ceasing the production of those ridiculously heavy bottles favoured by the Chinese.

?Open Letter Link: www.thewtaf.co.uk/open-letter

?DIRECT PRINT:?Some wine producers in Germany are looking to step away from the paper or plastic wine labels on their wines and instead will direct print the labels on to the bottles. They estimate that there will be a significant reduction in the volume of water used in the making of their wines, as a considerable amount of water is used in the production of the paper for the labels, whereas those using modern plastic labels will reduce their consumption of non-recyclable plastic. Unlike the existing labels, the ink involved in printing the labels onto the bottles is not a recycling or environmental issue.

?THE PIWI’s ARE COMING!!!:?The Germans have been working on fungus resistant grape varieties for quite a while. They call them, Pilzwiderstandsf?hige, and the rest of the world is now calling them PIWI. These vines have to be a minimum of 85% vitis vinifera and are usually bred with American species so as to incorporate their disease resistance. BUT, they don’t want to call them Hybrids, as the hybrids of old have a very negative perception of making low quality, pongy, cheap and nasty wines. So consider the PIWI’s as hybrids 2.0 new and improved. The reason for all this effort is that PIWI’s significantly reduce the use of fungicides and sprays, which need to be used considerably more often in Europe than what they are here in Australia. One imagines that this action is also being spurred on by the rising number of court cases about overspray and exposure of children to toxic sprays – this is particularly prevalent in France.

?Not that we will be drinking PIWI’s anytime soon, as under EU rules they can only make up 25% of a final wine. At this stage and are only approved for planting in “lesser” wine regions, so no PIWI Burgundy or Champagne on the cards for a while yet.

?None of these are earth-shattering, but like with so many other things, such as solar panels and good recycling practices, they help a little bit towards improving our environmental stewardship and improve by a smidge the chance of the human race surviving on this planet in the longer-term.

?Well, that’s it for this year. Please do what you can to be a good planetary citizen and help slow our descent into environmental oblivion. Also, Happy Festivities – See you in the New Year! Cheers, Dan T.