Aluminum and paper wine bottles are here to stay
This week we feature the latest wines to join the effort to lighten up with alternative packaging. As I’ve written before, the glass bottle accounts for the majority of wine’s carbon footprint, through production and shipping. That’s why I list bottle weight in my reviews, and why several wineries have pledged to lower the average bottle weight from about 550 grams to below 420 grams.
In January, I reviewed Revelshine, a California label in a 500-ml aluminum bottle. Now comes Element(AL), a line from Bogle Family Wine Collection, in a full 750-ml aluminum bottle. The company says this packaging will save roughly 11,500 pounds per truckload for the same amount of wine. Looked at another way, a truck could fit 43 percent more cases of the wine while keeping its total load 3 percent lighter than with a load of average-weight glass bottles. (The industry average is 550 grams.)
Elsewhere, Bonny Doon is the first U.S. winery to adopt the FrugalPac, a paperboard bottle developed in Britain and adopted there by supermarket brands Tesco and Waitrose. Bonny Doon’s new
rosé, dubbed Carbon…nay!, is to roll out nationally in Whole Foods Market stores this spring. Like the aluminum bottles for Element(AL), the FrugalPac is made from
recycled material and is itself recyclable. And, at a featherlight 86 grams, the bottles are also shatterproof — though Bonny Doon does advise us to “keep the bottle dry.”
These alternative packages embrace the market reality that most wine is consumed within days of purchase. Glass is the ideal vessel for aging wine, but if we aren’t going to age it, why bother with glass?
Wineries have been reluctant to adopt lighter bottles or alternative formats like these because they believe consumers favor heavy bottles as a sign of quality. Sustainability and climate change are driving this move to lighter bottles, but we should welcome it.
GREAT VALUE
Bonny Doon Vineyard Carbon…nay! Rosé
HHH
California, $17
Bonny Doon founder Randall Grahm has always been a disrupter. He was among the first in California to advocate Rhône grape varieties and to adopt screw caps instead of corks. Grahm sold the winery
a few years ago but remains involved, including with the rollout of this new rosé in a lightweight paperboard bottle, slated to come to Whole Foods Market stores this spring. The wine is as delicious as one would expect from Bonny Doon, on the cantaloupe side of the flavor spectrum for rosé, and accented with herbs and a spritz of lime. ABV: 13.6 percent. BW: 86 grams, plus one Randall Grahm.
Distributed locally by Constantine Wines, exclusive to Whole Foods Market supermarkets. (Whole Foods Market is a subsidiary of Amazon. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
GREAT VALUE
Element(AL) Wines Chardonnay 2022
HH 1/2
California, $17
This is delicious basic chardonnay, rich with peach and nectarine flavors with a touch of citrus and a hint of brulée caramelization on the finish. Certified sustainable, and earth-friendly in a lightweight aluminum bottle (thus the stylization of the name with the chemical symbol for aluminum). Alcohol by volume: 14.5 percent. Bottle weight: 86 grams (Very Light).
Distributed locally by RNDC.
Element(AL) Wines Pinot Noir 2022
HH California, $17
Pinot noir under $20 often ranges from candied flowers to the last sludge of coffee left on the burner all day in the office pantry. The Element(AL) avoids these extremes. It offers Bing cherry flavors with some earthy mushrooms and a whiff of tar. Certified sustainable. ABV: 14.5 percent. BW: 86 grams (Very Light).
Distributed locally by RNDC.
Prices are approximate. For availability, check Wine. com, Wine-searcher.com and the websites and social media feeds of the wineries, importers, distributors, and your favorite local wine store. You can also ask your local retailer to order wines from the distributors listed. Bottle weight is included, because this is the single most important contributor to wine’s carbon footprint.
Good: The wine delivers what it promises at a fair price. If it says chardonnay, it tastes like chardonnay.
Two stars: Excellent: A wine with character and added interest. May elevate your eyebrows at the first sip.
Three stars: Extraordinary: An exciting wine that stands out from others in its class. Fist-pumping, table-thumping good.
Four stars: Sublime: Otherworldly. May have you thinking, “So this is what they were talking about.”