Fruity, with notes of lower carbon
Across New Zealand, wine producers are innovating to meet the challenge of making their industry carbon-neutral by 2050.
Aglass of Marlborough sauvignon blanc is known the world over for its big blast of tropical fruit, but now winemakers want to enhance their reputation by removing something – carbon.
Reducing emissions has become a key issue for producers and growers, with industry body New Zealand Winegrowers recently announcing its intention for the industry to be carbon-neutral by 2050.
Making wine in an environmentally friendly way is nothing new, with a nationwide sustainability programme launched in the 1990s.
But the Zero Carbon Act, passed in November, has given the industry a renewed focus.
For Karen Titulaer, it is almost all she focuses on in her role as business sustainability and risk manager for Villa Maria, the country’s biggest family-owned winemaker.
The industry itself has not become more carbon intensive over time, but it is more aware of the impact wine has on the planet, she says.
While there are many stages between a grape growing on a vine and people sipping a glass of wine, there are two key sources of carbon emissions – packaging and transport.
Titulaer says glass bottles have their positives and negatives. While easily recyclable, bottles are far heavier than alternatives such as cans or bag-in-box.
More niche options include a flax bottle made in France, and a cardboard wine bottle launched in 2014 by Californian company Ecologic.
Bars have also served kegged wine in an effort to drop both cost and waste.
Titulaer says glass bottles are better for the long-term quality of wine, but there are ways to cut their carbon footprint.
Only one company, O-I, produces glass bottles in New Zealand, so working with them to create a lighter bottle using more recycled material is key, she says.
Having bottles made with 10 per cent more recycled material means a 65 per cent reduction in emissions per bottle, due to lower heating and materials costs.
Other changes to Villa Maria’s packaging products, including a different wrap for pallets and label paper, have helped reduce carbon emissions by 36 per cent in the past 10 years.
Lowering transport emissions is trickier, as most heavy equipment at vineyards requires diesel fuel.
Villa Maria is interested in trialling electric tractors, but reducing fuel use goes beyond the vineyard, Titulaer says.
Moving to electric forklifts in the warehouse reduces reliance on fossil fuels, as does shipping wine by rail or sea, rather than road.
Villa Maria also plans to go fully organic, which would reduce the use of sprays and result in more native plants going in the ground to suppress weeds.
Early signs indicate that organic vines have increased resilience, which could be important in the face of climate change, Titulaer says.
Villa Maria is in the position of being able to make large changes as a big company, but being small can also have its advantages.
Alice Rule fits at the smaller end of the industry, producing just 4000 bottles of wine a year for her brand 3sixty2.
She uses plastic-free and fully recyclable packaging where possible, as well as low-weight glass.
Customers can also pay to offset emissions through Carbonclick when shopping online.
Carbonclick is similar to the offset option the likes of Air New Zealand use, but customers get a tracking number to see where their money is used.
Carbonclick also tracks what country a customer is from, then diverts money to offsetting projects, such as tree planting, where that customer lives.
All those measures, and others, are part of Rule’s aim to have 3sixty2 being carbonneutral by 2023.
Being small means she can quickly pivot towards new technology or practices, rather than having to roll out changes across a large company, she says. ‘‘Being small means being agile.’’
But a key challenge for everyone, big and small, is data.
Some associated industries, such as packaging suppliers, will not share their carbon footprints, leaving producers either having to guess or ignore it, she says.
Not having accurate data can result in companies spending too much money on offsetting.
‘‘We see incredible companies trying to save the world, but then they go insolvent,’’ Rule says. ‘‘Sustainability is about the longterm economic viability, too.’’
Vineyard owners and wineries are also hampered by emissions accounting rules that currently do not allow carbon saved by grapevines or soil to be counted towards carbon neutrality.
That is despite vines being shown to sequester more carbon than some trees, Rule says.
Being able to become truly carbon-neutral would be a massive selling point for New Zealand wine, which Rule says could be done faster here than in other countries.
Being almost fully powered by renewable energy is a big plus, but the long-term work of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) is especially important, she says.
Established in 1997, SWNZ was one of the first wine industry programmes in the world aiming to improve environmental practices.
New Zealand Winegrowers sustainability manager Ed Massey says being able to prove your green credentials is a powerful marketing tool.
The overseas market fornew Zealand wine grew on the back of the Baby Boomer generation, but that demographic will be buying less wine in the next 10 years.
Meanwhile, younger generations are generally more concerned about the green side of wine.
‘‘If we are going to sustain our success, it’s going to be younger people buying our wine,’’ Massey says.
It is also important to take consumers on the ride with winemakers and grape growers towards the goal of reducing emissions.
Rule uses the dairy industry as an example.
Farmers have copped a lot of flak for their impact on the environment, despite the big strides they have made in recent years, yet people in cities still want milk for their barista-made coffee.
‘‘We put pressure on producers, but the bottom line is that consumers play a role.’’
Using tools like Carbonclick is one way to make them feel accountable too, she says.
‘‘My consumers are pleased to be on this journey and pleased to be seen to be helping.’’
For Titulaer, it is about finding what she calls the ‘‘sweet spot’’.
‘‘For consumers, it’s about enjoying a product they know is good for the environment and society, but also something they can enjoy.
‘‘This is a journeywe are all moving along, and we all want to do the right thing.’’