Wine
Sustainable Wine Education
Lowering Carbon Footprint
August 7, 2024
Lowering Carbon Footprint: A Key Component in Sustainability Efforts
When talking about a winery’s sustainability efforts, the conversation generally begins with farming choices in the vineyard—however, it’s impossible to have a full-circle discussion on the notion of sustainability without factoring in decisions being made in the cellar. Beyond simple recycling efforts, sustainability-focused wineries are taking serious strides to lower their carbon footprint in more ways than you may think. Here are a few ways how.
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Decisions Behind the Bottle
In addition to ensuring that what goes in the bottle is made sustainably, decisions concerning the bottle itself are just as important. Did you know that using lightweight glass bottles is one of the easiest ways to lower carbon emissions? Alta Orsa and Clif Family Winery are two California producers pioneering the use of lighter bottles, as well as have eschewed the use of foil capsules so as to substantially reduce packaging waste. Additional wineries opting out of using foil are brick & mortar, Stringer, Authentique, SOM, TriCal, Cellar Beast, Jac and James, Otro Lado, Terratorium, and more.
Although shipping bottles certainly isn’t the most sustainable means of getting wine into peoples’ hands, doing so with reusable, recyclable, or compostable packaging is a great way to keep waste at bay.
For a deeper dive into how to reuse / sustainably dispose of shipping materials, check out this easy-to-understand guide from Clif Family Winery.
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Additional Ways to Lower Carbon Footprint
Beyond farming and packaging decisions, a number of choices can be made in the cellar and vineyard to significantly lower carbon emissions. For example, using gravity-flow production facilities can reduce emissions by relying on said gravity rather than pumps and machinery to move wine through the vinification process (Halter Ranch, Alexana, and Pepper Bridge are three estates operating in this way).
Additionally, using fully electric tractors can also lower emissions, which is another effort being implemented by Halter Ranch. Lastly, pursuing a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design’) certification, like Alexana has, is a tangible way for an estate to show their commitment to lowering carbon footprint, as the LEED certification provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green buildings, which offer environmental, social and governance benefits.
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