The Wine World's Carbon Footprint

A very interesting article in this month's Wine Enthusiast magazine shows some of the impact of wine growing and shipping on the environment. Winegrowers, winemakers and shippers are implementing numerous initiatives around minimizing greenhouse gas production. Fetzer and other wineries are installing solar panels, and water management and cover crops are more and more en vogue. I just wanted to let you know that in case you are wondering why your wine bottles are getting lighter, this is done in order to minimize transportation cost. It sure makes a difference to ship a 300 g glass bottle versus a 500 g glass bottle. The smallest impact on transportation, though, has the ugly name boxed wine. I just cannot get myself to do that yet, however, the wines in boxes are getting better, according to my sources (I did not try these wines myself). Look out for the words "carbon neutral" on wine labels. And, some transportation across the ocean now even involves sailing ships for wine. Now how much more romantic can going green get?