Reducing the world’s carbon dioxide emissions is a gigantic task. Making wine bottles lighter is a drop in the ocean. But everything counts. Every industry needs to take action. Making bottles requires a lot of energy, and more the heavier the bottle is. Heavy bottles require more trucks. When they reduced the weight of the bottle in Champagne, they saved a surprising amount of trucks, 3,000 per year according to one estimate. So reducing bottle weight is an important environmental issue. But who is responsible?
Should producers in a kind of global communal action switch entirely to using 420-gram bottles and present consumers with a fait accompli? Or should the consumers take the first step by refusing to buy heavy bottles and thus get the producers to change?
One half of BKWine argues for the first option (with or without joint action), that the producers start. It seems most straightforward and most effective for producers to become the driving force. A heavy bottle still means prestige to many. But consumers will get used to lighter bottles quickly if they see more and more wines in lightweight bottles. And determining the weight of the bottle when it is full is not obvious. If you shop online, you do not lift the bottle before the purchase. And consumers are becoming more and more environmentally conscious.
A glass bottle for still wine weighs approximately 500-650 grams. However, some bottles weigh one kilo and more, even heavier than a champagne bottle. In Sweden, lightweight means a maximum of 420 grams. (420 g happens to be what the Swedish monopoly retailer Systembolaget has decided is “lightweight”, above which they apply a “fine”, a surcharge, to the wine.) In the regular range, 455 wines meet that limit. Only 34 cost more than SEK 150 (~15 euro). You might think this is good because less expensive wines are made in larger volumes. But consumers must also encounter expensive wines in lightweight bottles. Only then is the pattern broken. The argument that a prestigious wine is only made in a limited quantity and, therefore, it doesn’t matter if it’s sold in a monstrous 1-kilo bottle does not hold water.
The other half of BKWine argues that it is the consumers who have the ultimate responsibility. It is the consumers who pay for the wine, and it is therefore in the consumer’s power to opt-out of unreasonably (or unnecessarily) heavy bottles. All modern wine producers must consider what consumers want, both in terms of the taste of the wine and the packaging. So that argument says that power lies in your wallet, you the wine consumer.
What do you think?
Vote for us
The English travel magazine Food and Travel has started a poll on the best destination, restaurant and – of course – best tour operator. We are so specialised (and small), so it is not easy to be seen in such contexts. But we would be happy if you cast a vote for us!
Vote here for BKWine Tours in the category “tour operators”:
https://foodandtravel.com/awards
(You first have to create a free account.)
Champagne or Bordeaux tours in September-October
There are still a few places available for our wine tour in Champagne in late September.
Book now!
We also have some places on the Bordeaux tour in early October (due to a cancellation for medical reasons).
And you can to the ultimat thing and combine the two and join us on the whole of the great Champagne-Bordeaux exploration.
Go on a wine and adventure tour this winter
For those who want to go on long-distance tours and great adventures, we have good news: The restrictions for Chile and Argentina have eased, so now we can say with great certainty that the wine tour to South America can go ahead. The same is true of South Africa and New Zealand.
So now you have three to choose from:
- Chile-Argentina in January
- South Africa in February
- New Zealand in March
These are tours with unique and magnificent experiences.
More info on our wine tours here. “World’s Top Wine Tours”.
Enjoy the Brief!
Britt & Per
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What’s on at BKWine Tours
BKWine is also one of the world’s leading wine tour operators. Here’s what we currently have on our scheduled wine tour program:
- Bordeaux and Champagne, Sept 28 – Oct 6, 2022 – BOOK NOW!
- Champagne, Sept 28 – Oct 2, 2022 – BOOK NOW!
- Bordeaux, October 2-6, 2022 – BOOK NOW!
- Chile-Argentina, January 16-29, 2023 – BOOK NOW!
- South Africa, February 8-18, 2023 – BOOK NOW!
- New Zealand, March 15-30, 2023 – BOOK NOW!
We also make custom designed wine tours.
We’re different than most other wine tour operators. We are people who know wine inside out, who travel constantly in wine regions, who write award winning books about wine. Who do this out of passion. Our tours are different from others. More in wine tours: BKWineTours.com.
