This week was the COP26 in Glasgow, and I’ve been thinking a lot about my own personal commitments to climate change.

I was reminded of a Case Study I wrote while studying for my WSET Diploma twelve years ago, and decided to dig it up to see how it stood the test of time.

INTRODUCTION

“Climate change is the defining issue of our era.”   ---  Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General  (Time Magazine, January 12, 2009)

Disturbing weather trends, melting glaciers, droughts and heat waves, fierce storms, and snowpack loss have become so prevalent in recent years that they can no longer be ignored, exemplifying the hot-button topic of climate change and what the human race needs to do about it.  Our environment is being altered at an alarming rate, and society is finally coming to terms with the realization that it is we who are responsible for these drastic and frequently unwelcome geological changes.  We have nobody but ourselves to blame for our constant consumption of natural resources and our irresponsible methods of dealing with the massive amount of waste we create.  Clearly, it is up to us to alter our mindsets away from being a “throw-away” society if we have any hope of reclaiming our planet.

As this deep sense of guilt gradually seeps into peoples’ consciousness in both developed and developing nations around the globe, consumers have become ever more concerned with their own individual environmental impact, and are realizing the need for more congruency with nature, such as that which our forefathers had.  It has been said that the grocery cart is the most important vehicle for social change (1); therefore it is no surprise that consumers are now demanding to see “green” habits from producers, with buzzwords like “sustainability” and “carbon footprint” taking on international recognition, and entire political parties being successful in their bids for office based on a platform that puts the environment first.

The relatively recent creation of social media via the internet has created a transparency in business that has never before existed in modern society.  With these tools, consumers are becoming more equipped to “call out” an entire corporation at an alarming rate, and they now have more power than ever to demand from producers what should have always been their provenance:  corporate authenticity with ethical practices, respect for the environment, and promotion of a quality product worthy of purchase ~ especially in these times of financial strife.  Every single industry on the planet, including the world of wine and spirits, has felt this crush for environmental and social change, and it has only just begun. 

THE IMPACT OF THE WINE INDUSTRY ON THE ENVIRONMENT 

The wine and spirits industry, like every other multi-billion dollar industry on earth, is completely guilty of contributing to the detriment of the environment.  Being an industry of production and distribution of goods rather than services, it is constantly creating environmental turmoil with nearly every step, from the tractors tilling the fields all the way to the consumer opening and consuming the contents of the bottle.

The introduction of pesticides into vineyards and other crop-growing areas in the 1970s has now decimated soils, flora and fauna.  These days, vineyard spraying is often used judiciously to produce a better quality wine, but even when that procedure isn’t followed, the negative environmental impact from spraying vineyards is nowhere near as terrible as it is with the massive amount of chemicals used on crops such as corn, which is the primary ingredient in bourbon. (2)  

Other key agricultural issues include soil erosion and the use of water.  In Northern California, natural water systems that are being used to feed vineyards have resulted in damage to the salmon population and other fish, amphibian, bird, and animal species. (3)  As this area has seen a steady yearly increase in summer temperatures along with later autumn rains, combined with a prediction for a continual increase in average temperature of 3 -4 degrees Fahrenheit, the intersection of the needs of both vineyards and native species has now reached a critical point. (4)  The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, southeast of San Francisco, providing water to several areas around the state of California, is experiencing similar problems with its ecosystem.  Vineyards that favour irrigation (which includes nearly all of California under vine) as opposed to dry-farming contribute to water wasting as the roots hug the surface then experience dehydration in the heat. (5)

The natural process of growing and harvesting grapes creates a by-product of its own: vine cuttings and grape pomace, which can often end up in landfills.  Growers are sometimes hesitant to keep the pomace and put it back into the vineyard as it requires special handling to stop the spreading of insects and disease; therefore it is much easier to have it trucked away.  

In 2007, the UN stated that the agricultural and forestry industries accounted for 31% of all greenhouse gas emissions; (6) the Bordeaux wine industry alone has found that it contributes 200,000 metric tonnes of carbon pollution per year. (7)

When the grapes or grains leave the land to be processed, the consumption of natural resources by the wine and spirits industry only compounds.  It takes a great deal of energy to run a winery or distillery, and a corporation will quite often elect to operate with traditionally cheaper non-renewable resources like oil, coal and gas rather than the more expensive yet environmentally friendly option of switching to solar panels.  Wines need to be stored at certain temperatures to prevent unwanted secondary fermentations and other defects, and creating these safe temperature levels in the storage facility consumes yet more electricity.   

The wine industry in particular is fraught with packaging prejudices, routinely opting for heavy glass bottles that can weigh up to four pounds each (64 ounces) when filled with wine, in an attempt to create an illusion of quality and prestige. (8) These same wines are often distributed in wooden crates instead of the lighter, more ecologically friendly cardboard box option.  Responsible packaging such as PET or TetraPaks is often blithely overlooked, even by companies that create wines for immediate consumption and which have absolutely no need for the protective cellaring qualities that glass provides.  The issue of sealing the bottle creates its own problems, as the renewable and recyclable resource of cork is often tossed into the landfill.   The screw cap, which induces far more carbon emissions during its creation than cork does, generally experiences the same miserable, useless end. (9) 

Once the packaged item actually leaves the production premises for distribution, things take on a global perspective.  Chances are, that bottle of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc you are drinking in Oslo didn’t get there strictly by sail power; and while sending beverages on long voyages by ship certainly creates a negative impact on the environment, those of you in New York City who are drinking Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that travelled in refrigerated trucks across the USA are enjoying your wine at an even greater deal of expense to the environment. (2)  What this really boils down to is the thing that makes wine such a unique beverage:  the concept of terroir.  It is simply impossible to recreate the growing conditions of a particular region, and our society’s desire for and appreciation of what we consider to be the “good life” fuels our demand to enjoy wines from all around the world, with environmental consequences be damned.  It is also true that when we step onto a plane to visit a wine-growing region far away from our home, touring the region by car for a few days and meandering from winery to winery, we are only perpetuating this cycle of consumption and destruction.

Both of these drinks industries, when broken up in this fashion, have their own respective areas of environmental negligence, with the abuse of agriculture being the chief crime of the spirits industry and the prejudices of packaging being the source of the wine industry’s most irresponsible actions.  In its initial attempt to address these issues, the wine industry has found itself to be in something of an identity crisis, both fragmented and with inconsistent regional and national standards, as some producers genuinely try to make amends while others are simply “greenwashing” their efforts with the use of fancy words and marketing ploys.

BREAKDOWN  OF  WINE  INDUSTRY  CARBON  EMISSIONS  IN  BORDEAUX,  FRANCE 

PROPOSED INITIATIVES AND THEIR EFFECTIVENESS 

Every winery has to deal with the issue of grape pomace at harvest, and quite often this mass of pips and skins ends up in the landfill as waste.  The simple matter of getting rid of the pomace can be a costly one, especially if the winery or crush facility has a great deal of the residue.  Trucks need to be hired to take the pomace away, and these same trucks contribute to carbon emissions with every trip they make.  Often there is a fee for the municipality to accept raw waste that is so high in biological oxygen demand (BOD), and occasionally the waste must be moved to a city further away that can handle the material, resulting in even higher transportation costs.  A custom crush winery in Dundee, Oregon, cited annual costs of $180,000 just to haul away grape waste to a Portland facility in 2007. (10) 

While a very small amount of pomace may be used by spas for vinotherapy treatments and by scientists to research the recent discovery that grape seeds may be useful in fighting leukemia and other cancers, this quantity is negligible with respect to the industry as a whole. (11)  Sometimes a vineyard will attempt to recycle the waste as compost, but this is a lengthy procedure that involves heating the pomace to kill off potentially dangerous insects like the vine mealybug.  Horticulturalists have determined that it is improper treatment of this pomace that is partially responsible for the spread of these scale insects which carry the grapevine leafroll virus. (12)

Vincor Canada, one of the country’s largest wine corporations, has recently signed an agreement to sell about 3500 metric tonnes of their grape residue to Vandermeer Greenhouses which plans to incorporate anaerobic digestion to decompose the pomace and convert it into methane gas, which they will then use to power their greenhouses.  Not only does the wine company receive a pat on the back for keeping the waste out of the landfill, they will also receive money from Vandermeer amounting into the tens of thousands of dollars for the grape pomace.   If the greenhouse company ends up creating more electricity than needed to power their operation, they have the option to sell the excess energy to the Ontario Hydro grid. (13)  The combination of waste reduction, creation of a new energy source, and financial returns makes pomace recycling an extremely attractive green initiative for a winery to consider.  

It is distressing to learn that 70% of the cost of a bottle of wine is attributed to packaging, rather than the actual contents inside the bottle. (14)  Even more unnerving is the knowledge that the production of glass bottles is extremely detrimental to the environment.  Glass producers in the USA note that orders for heavyweight, high end bottles are up and in general it seems that wine bottle weight has added a pound (16 ounces) over the last decade. (15)  In 2007 and 2008 there was actually a severe shortage in both Canada and the USA for glass bottles, with some winemakers needing to place their orders up to 12 months in advance.  The wine industry continues to promote these negative trends even as other drinks industries switch to lighter, more efficient bottles and other forms of packaging.  About 20 to 25% of the cost of glass is directly due to the energy needed to create the bottle.  As energy prices soar, that cost is passed along to the winery, and eventually to the consumer. (16) 

Environmentally conscious wineries like Fetzer in California and Errazuriz in Chile have begun to see the errors in this way of thinking and have committed to putting their wines into thinner bottles, along with omitting the punt, which is the source of a great deal of excess glass and not a necessary feature except in the case of cellar-worthy wines, of which a great deal of the world’s wines are not.  These new bottles range from being 12.5 to 16% lighter, and now weigh only 15.5 ounces (less than one pound) when empty.  In a winery that produces 23 million bottles every year, that will save 1996 metric tonnes of glass, which translates into dollars saved, less carbon emissions created, lighter fuel and transportation costs, and also helps solve the glass bottle shortage issue. (17) 

With the exception of Australia and New Zealand, countries have not yet whole-heartedly embraced the screw cap closure and still rely on a mixture of cork and other types of closures.  This is a controversial issue because each type of closure has benefits and drawbacks.  From an environmental standpoint, it has been found that plastic stoppers create nearly ten times as many carbon emissions as cork, and aluminum screw caps create nearly 24 times as many emissions as cork, making screw caps the most environmentally unfriendly option. (9) 

An estimated 13 billion corks end up in landfills every year, and a group called ReCORK America, sponsored by Amorim, the world’s largest cork producer, has taken the initiative to include them as another item for the consumer to incorporate into their daily recycling habits. (18)  Whole Foods, the USA grocery chain, now has a convenient collection box in the wine department of several of their California, Oregon, and Washington stores, and Napa Valley winery Cuvaison, already well-known for their commitment to the environment, has also offered to be a drop-off location for other wineries and individuals to recycle their corks, in addition to the ones currently being recycled by the tasting room staff.  In a six month trial project that will end in May, ReCORK America has already managed to reclaim nearly 2.5 million corks in the San Francisco Bay Area alone.  If every winery, grocery store, wine shop, and restaurant in the world took such an initiative, making it a routine daily practice, massive amounts of landfill waste could be avoided from such a simple act.  The corks can then be recycled into a number of new items, such as flooring tiles, shoe soles, building insulation, bulletin boards, and even fishing rod handles. This can add another 20 years to a cork’s lifespan, at which point it will naturally biodegrade. (19)

CONCLUSION AND PERSONAL COMMENTARY

It is imperative that the wine and spirits industries take immediate steps to rectify the environmental damage they have created through production and distribution of their products.  The recent trend towards sustainable farming and diminished use of pesticides is an excellent start, but a great deal more needs to be done, with the key problem areas situated in the creation of packaging and the transport costs associated with distribution.   

While the notion of creating carbon neutral programs is a highly valid and timely one, it is a concept that is better suited to a political environment rather than that of a corporate one because it needs to be regulated with laws enforced by the governments of respective nations involved.  To credit, New Zealand has already begun to pave the way with their highly successful carboNZero program, and the country boasts seven of the world’s twelve carbon neutral wineries. (20)  The Bordeaux Carbon Initiative in France aims to cut carbon emissions by 75% as of the year 2050.  This comes in tandem with the EU Climate Plan which has a definite goal to cut emissions by 20% across the continent by the year 2020. (7)  The Chilean government is now in the process of creating sustainability-related tax incentives for both homes and businesses.  In the USA, green certification groups and sustainable solutions companies abound, and the concept of issuing carbon credits (based on London’s European Climate Exchange) to farmers who practice environmentally friendly methods is now being tested by the new Obama administration.

Making the switch from using non-renewable resources to solar panels for harnessing energy is another exciting concept but one that is extremely costly and needs to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.  It is thrilling to learn that those companies that have already taken the initiative are not only doing their part to help the environment but are now experiencing much lower energy bills that will eventually pay off their original financial investment given five to ten years.  However, the recent unfortunate trend in California of theft of these pricey solar panels, plus the fluctuating cost of oil, combined with the expensive land area needed to be sacrificed for installation of the panels makes it a more difficult option for existing wineries that have already struggled with a massive financial outlay at the beginning of their venture.  When one considers that the winery may have had little or no financial return for the first few years while the grapes were too young to bottle, the decision to go solar becomes even more difficult.

It is for these reasons listed above that I had ultimately decided on the three chosen initiatives of converting grape pomace residue into methane gas, introducing widespread cork recycling, and conversion to lighter glass bottles, which can be implemented by nearly every winery, regardless of size, with very little initial expenditure.  Indeed, it is quite possible that a winery will actually benefit financially from taking these three steps to a greener, cleaner planet.   In a more ideal world, the winery could then take this boosting of the bottom line to invest in costlier green solutions like installing solar panels and planting trees to offset carbon emissions, rather than just pocketing the profits.  As time goes on and those costs have been repaid, wouldn’t it be lovely if the winery actually passed their financial savings on to the consumer in the form of lowering or at least maintaining the prices of their wines.  Perhaps this is a rather “Pollyanna” outlook on things, but I’d like to think it is possible that with a closer bond to nature and a focus on environmentally sound practices, people just may realize that our planet is worth more than all the money in the world.

DIRECT QUOTES, CHARTS AND STATISTICAL REFERENCES

1. www.auburnpub.com Dave McIntyre “For socially conscious wine lovers: fair trade” February 3, 2009

2. www.livescience.com Andrea Thompson “The Carbon Footprint of Wine” November 10, 2008

3. www.northbaybusinessjournal.com Paul P. “Skip” Spaulding III “Guest contributor: Species issues tested in the vineyards” October 20, 2008 The North Bay Business Journal

4. www.sfgate.com Paul Franson “Five ways California vintners are weathering climate change” October 24, 2008 The San Francisco Chronicle

5. www.sfgate.com Kelly Zito “Change certain for the delta, report says” October 23, 2008 The San Francisco Chronicle

6. www.winesandvines.com Kate Lavin “Expo Details Sustainable Practices” November 17, 2008 Wines and Vines Monthly Magazine, Wine Communications Group

7. www.decanter.com Jane Anson “Bordeaux: we’ll cut emissions by 75%” November 24, 2008 Decanter

8. www.associatedpress.com Michelle Locke “Winery sees clear benefits in lightweight glass” November 3, 2008

9. www.winesandvines.com Kate Lavin “Study Calls Cork the Most Eco-Friendly” January 22, 2009 Wines and Vines Monthly Magazine, Wine Communications Group

10. www.oregonwinepress.com Yvette Saarinen “Wastewater System Impresses” November 10, 2008

11. www.ksbw.com Clinical Cancer Research Journal “Can Grape Seeds Kill Leukemia?” January 2, 2009

12. www.winesandvines.com Jane Firstenfeld “Oregon Catch Not Vine Mealybug” October 9, 2008 Wines and Vines Monthly Magazine, Wine Communications Group

13. www.winesandvines.com Hudson Cattell and Linda Jones McKee “Vincor Pomace to Power Greenhouse” October 8, 2008 Wines and Vines Monthly Magazine, Wine Communications Group

14. www.northbaybusinessjournal.com Jeff Quackenbush “Plastic, aluminum find small but growing place” September 22, 2008 The North Bay Business Journal

15. www.nytimes.com Kate Galbraith “Making Wine Bottles Lighter...and Greener” March 10, 2009

16. www.winebusiness.com Cathy Fisher “Packaging: Growing Pains and the Glass Market” August 15, 2008 Wine Business Monthly Magazine

17. www.environmentalleader.com “Wines Shipped in Lighter Bottles” November 4, 2008

18. www.marketwatch.com Press Release “ReCORK America Teams with Whole Foods Market in Northern California to Recycle Wine Corks” November 3, 2008 The Wall Street Journal

19. www.sfgate.com Jon Bonné “From the Cellarist: Recycling project repurposes wine corks” November 21, 2008 The San Francisco Chronicle

20. www.voxy.co.nz Voxy News Engine “Another First From a Winery Pioneering Climate Change” April 2, 2009 New Zealand

ADDITIONAL SOURCES

• www.napavalleyregister.com Mike Treleven “What will climate change bring to Napa vineyards?” January 14, 2009   The Napa Valley Register

• www.abc.net.au ABC Rural News “Wine regions study warns on climate change” November 12, 2008  Australia Broadcasting Corporation

• www.discovery.com Michael Reilly “Tropical Cyclones Wash Away Carbon” October 21, 2008  

• www.telegraph.co.uk Matthew Wilson “Making wine the biodynamic way” January 22, 2009  

• www.sierrasun.com Janice Jones “Wine Jones: Environmentally responsible wines” October 2, 2008  

• www.winesandvines.com Peter Mitham “Consumers Contribute to Wine Footprint” October 9, 2008  Wines and Vines Monthly Magazine, Wine Communications Group  

• www.plowandhearth.com “Half of Americans Plan to Shop “Green” This Holiday Season, Survey Says” October 14, 2008  

• www.startribune.com Bill Ward “Turns out, it is fairly easy being green” February 25, 2009 

• www.sfgate.com Dave Bitts “To save salmon, stop subsidizing toxic farming” January 22, 2009  The San Francisco Chronicle   

• www.winebusiness.com Press Release “Fetzer Vineyards Converts to Lightweight Glass” October 15, 2008  Wine Business Monthly Magazine  

• www.packagingdigest.com “Glass Remains Most Popular Choice for Wine Packaging” January 15, 2009  

• www.uk.reuters.com Leslie Gevirtz “Wine: Vintage ’08? A mixed case of economy and ecology” December 23, 2008   

• www.forbes.com Eric Arnold “Great Wines Under Cork and Screw Cap” January 29, 2009  Forbes Magazine

• www.winesandvines.com Jane Firstenfeld “Grand Theft Solar” December 5, 2008  Wines and Vines Monthly Magazine, Wine Communications Group  

• www.pressdemocrat.com Bob Keefe “Once poised for growth, solar industry headed for shakeout” December 7, 2008  The Press Democrat Newspaper

• www.sfgate.com Tom Abate “Solar industry growth dimming with economy” January 21, 2009  The San Francisco Chronicle   

• www.prnewswire.com Press Release “Cuvaison Joins ReCORK in Aiding Threatened Forests” January 8, 2009  

• www.businesswire.com Turner, Oregon “Consumers Can Now Recycle Wine Corks” March 10, 2009  

• www.sfgate.com Andy Peay “Wine Greenwash” December 7, 2008  The San Francisco Chronicle

• www.drinksmediawire.com “VC Family Estates Beats All Industry & All Chilean Wineries to win the Energy Efficiency Trophy by the CPC for 2008” January 6, 2009 

• www.decanter.com Maggie Rosen “Errazuriz reduces bottle weight” October 1, 2008  Decanter Magazine

• www.winesandvines.com Glenn T. McGourty “Managing Vines Organically” November 3, 2008  Wines and Vines Monthly Magazine, Wine Communications Group  

• www.sfgate.com Tara Duggan “How wineries are packaging their eco-credentials” November 14, 2008  The San Francisco Chronicle

• www.winebusiness.com Bill Pregler “Pack Expo Showcases Thousands of Packaging Solutions at Annual Chicago Convention” December 1, 2008  Wine Business Monthly Magazine

• www.prweb.com Press Release “Twist and Shout Eco-Chic Wine for Active Lifestyles” January 5, 2009  

• www.northbaybusinessjournal.com Jeff Quackenbush “Vintners lighten up on ‘greener’ glass” March 9, 2009  The North Bay Business Journal  

• www.nationalbusinessreview.com NBR Staff “Wine industry nears sustainability targets” October 24, 2008  

• www.sfgate.com Wyatt Buchanan “State OKs tough plan to counter global warming”  December 12, 2008  The San Francisco Chronicle

• www.nytimes.com Wes Jackson and Wendell Berry “A 50-Year Farm Bill” January 4, 2009  The New York Times 

• www.abc.net.au ABC Rural News “Winery says consumers do care about carbon neutral” January 14, 2009   Australia Broadcasting Corporation 

•  www.winespectator.com Diana Macle “Bordeaux Aims to Reduce Carbon Emissions by 20 Percent” February 20, 2009  The Wine Spectator

• www.bloomberg.com Lorraine Woellert and Alan Bjerga “Farmers Want Obama to Make Carbon a Cash Crop Under Climate Law” March 26, 2009