Wine & Spirits - Winter 2023 - 22

While there had been efforts
like this before, what set the IWCA
apart was its comprehensive data
toolkit with which a winery could
calculate its carbon footprint, to
measure emissions and set reduction
goals. In particular, members
were obliged to come to terms
with the scope of emissions from
activities outside of wine production.
That put them face-to-face
with glass's contribution to their
overall climate footprint.
" It was the elephant in the
room, " says Diana Snowden Seysses,
an IWCA member with roots
in Napa and Burgundy. " Glass was
responsible for between 50 to 75
percent of greenhouse gas emissions,
depending on your math. "
The IWCA toolbox compelled
a shift in emphasis: to reduce its
carbon footprint, a winery had
to address its glass consumption.
" We finally had a winery-specific
greenhouse gas calculation tool
that provided data we could not
ignore, " says Molly Shepherd,
sustainability manager for Napa's
Spottswoode Vineyards. " It's a big
driver for our focus on glass and
packaging now. "
Historically, of course, massproduced
glass is a triumph for
the industry, an almost miraculous
19th-century advance, protecting
this relatively unstable liquid from
oxygen and other contaminants.
Glass bottles, available at scale,
" Glass was responsible
for between 50 to 75
percent of greenhouse
gas emissions, depending
on your math. "
-DIANA SNOWDEN SEYSSES
resulted in leaps in quality, longevity
and transportability.
Over time, a bottle's shape, size,
color and weight have come to signify
differences in variety, region
and quality. So, it was probably
inevitable that a bottle's weight
and design would be called upon
to confer notions of prestige, rarity
and luxury. The trend reached its
zenith with the cult wines of Napa
Valley in the 1990s and 2000s, and
was mimicked by ambitious producers
all over the world. During
that time the weight of luxury
bottles swelled from an average of
about 450 grams (one pound) to
800-900 grams. Producing, storing,
protecting, packaging and
shipping these heavier bottles
added mightily to a given winery's
carbon footprint.
The ecological trend, then, is for
lightweighting, and some of the
country's largest wine companies,
including Jackson Family Farms,
Constellation and the Crimson
Wine Group, are working to lessen
their carbon footprint with glass.
It turns out that shaving grams
off your bottle weight is one of
the easiest adjustments to make,
with the greatest impact. In the
last half-decade, Jackson Family
Farms has trimmed an average
of 52 grams off every bottle of
La Crema, Kendall-Jackson Vintner's
Reserve and a dozen other
brands-for a nine percent reduction
in glass-related emissions (or
1.5 percent overall). By diminishing
waste and using less fuel to
transport less-expensive bottles,
wineries can save hundreds of
thousands of dollars a year.
Glass production is fuel-intensive,
owing to the high temperatures
required to convert sand
and silica to glass. (That raw
material is often transported
from sources hundreds of miles
away.) The furnaces are not only
massive, they're inefficient: Once
they are turned on, producers
rarely turn them off. Some are
left to burn for a decade or more.
But new glassmaking technologies
are slowly entering the
marketplace, including MAGMA
(Modular Advanced Glass Manufacturing
Asset), developed by the
glass company O-I Glass. MAGMA
is not only one-third the size of a
typical furnace, it is relatively portable
(it can be moved and redeployed)
and can be operated using
renewable fuels. Plus, it is capable
of producing significantly lighter
bottles.
Recycling glass could bring
these efforts even closer to NetZero
emission goals. But the U.S.
continues to lag on its commitment
to glass recycling, repurposing
only 30 percent of its wine bottles,
on average. In comparison,
Britain, France and Germany recycle
more than 70 percent of their
glass; Belgium, the world leader,
recycles close to 100 percent.
As for shipping and transport,
winemakers are hoping that California's
commitment to electric
vehicles (scheduled to be mandatory
in 2035) will lead to dramatic
reductions in their own
carbon footprint. In the meantime,
there's the enduring issue
of overnight shipping: If you're
sending your reduced-weight
bottle of wine overnight to a collector
in Houston, your carbon
karma just went up in smoke. Generally
loath to part with this carbon-intensive
customer service,
wineries are increasingly offering
alternatives-Spottswoode and
Jarvis Estate are among the wineries
onboard with Vine Vault, which
pools shipments for transport in
a refrigerated van. The service is
slightly more expensive than air
freight and shipments don't leave
the winery until the van is close to
full. But for those who can wait
this type of service is a great alternative
to small shipments by air.
THE MAGMA, A NEW MODULAR MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
While Wineries haven't abandoned
prestige in their marketing
efforts, they have, through
market research and active trials,
learned that consumers are largely
unfazed by lighter bottles. In fact,
their research suggests the Gen Z
age group responds positively to
lightweighting efforts.
In October, the Sustainable
Wine Roundtable, a British organization,
announced the SWR
Bottleweight Accord, an agreement
with retailers which seeks
to reduce the weight of all bottles
found on these retailers' shelves
to 420 grams by the end of 2026.
That includes domestic retailers
Naked Wines and Whole Foods
Market; more in the U.S. are
expected to follow. l
22
WINE & SPIR IT S
W INTER 2023
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF O-I GLASS
Wine & Spirits - Winter 2023

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