The open letter, led by Wine Traders for Alternative Formats (WTAF), highlights the environmental impact of glass manufacturing and recycling. She points out that switching from glass to alternative formats could save “more than a third of the carbon footprint of wine consumed in the UK” – the equivalent of taking 350,000 cars off the road overnight.
Alternative forms such as boxed wine, canned wine, kegs, paper bottles and bags have a much smaller carbon footprint than glass.
Oliver Lea of BIB Wine Company, a founding member of WTAF, believes “the wine sector has an obligation to meet the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 43% this decade.” This should be an absolute minimum – and the only way to achieve this is by making a major shift away from bottles.
Technological improvements have made it increasingly possible to bottle quality 'drink now' wines in BIBs, cans and other alternative formats. As the letter states, “There is little or no appreciable difference in quality between these formats and bottled wines that are drunk within a few months of purchase, as most are.”
“The best wines I have tasted from BIBs and cans have been of a quality that I would be happy to have at the dinner table,” said Jancis Robinson MW.
The letter urges consumers to “seek wine in alternative packaging wherever possible” and calls on the UK government to offer tax incentives to consumers for carbon-friendly alternative packaging.
“I think an increasing number of quality wine producers will move to alternative formats,” Lea said. “The important thing is not to waste too much time soul-searching. There are a range of alternative formats that can go a long way towards achieving the emissions reductions we need to achieve. We know that wine consumers are motivated to buy sustainably. The more they discover these formats The more they move.
However, not everyone is convinced that alternative formats are the answer. Some, like Catalan producer Miguel Torres, who has pioneered more sustainable wines, feel the priority is to reduce the weight of bottles and are campaigning for glass manufacturers to create a standard reusable bottle that customers can widely return and reuse. .
Other signatories to the letter include: Richard Bampfield MW; wine writer Alisha Hansel; Rose Murray-Brown MW, wine writer for The Scotsman; Andrew Catchpole and Joe Gilbert of Harpers Wine & Spirit; Helen McGinn, Co-Chair of the International Wine Challenge; Victoria Moore of The Daily Telegraph; Susie Atkins of the Sunday Telegraph; Richard Seidel of Jupiter; Metro's Rob Buckhaven; Tobias Webb, co-founder of the Sustainable Wine Roundtable; Jane Masters MW of the Masters Institute of Wine Sustainability Committee; Joanna Simon of Waitrose & Partners Drinks Magazine; Will Lyons of The Sunday Times; wine writer Helena Nicklin; Jane McQuitty MBE of The Times; Eddie Smith from the Evening Standard, Siri Park from Cantina Gochia; Dom de Ville of the Wine Society; Dr. Jacopo Mazzeo, wine journalist; Emma and Andrew Nielsen of Le Grabin; Jack Green of Finca Wine; Kirsty Tinkler of Weino BIB; Simon Rawlings and Marek Hames of the canned wine company; Marta Goega PhD at Alliance Wine; Muriel Chatel of Sustainable Wine Solutions; Neil Walker of English Vine; Nick Beck Kiss Wine; Nick Darlington of Graft Wine Company; Ollie Purnell of Copper Crew; Writer Peter Richards M.W. Rich Hamblin with more wine; Richard Bampfield MW. Rob Malin When in Rome Wine; Rose Murray-Brown MW of Scotland; Writer Robert Joy; Writer Susie Barry MW; and Tamlyn Corrin of JancisRobinson.com.
See Alternative Wine Packaging: Thinking Inside the Box in the November 2022 issue of Decanter magazine for an assessment of high-end wines available in more sustainable packaging and a selection of BIB-recommended wines, can, bag, plastic bottle and paper bottle.
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