Fruity, with notes of lower carbon

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.