The heavy bottles also don’t fit as easily into the shelves of a wine fridge.

@EC-vc8rc

8 ай бұрын

Agree 100%. I stopped buying some wines such as Phelps Insignia and Shafer Hillside Select when they increased the size of the bottle 20 years ago.

@EC-vc8rc

8 ай бұрын

We should all write to our online wine shops to identify bottles that are bigger than normal so that we aren’t surprised when these oversized wines arrive in the mail.

@joeydecarlo2532

8 ай бұрын

Yes!! I came here to make the same comment, those huge heavy bottles are annoying and add nothing to the wine.

@MrOldschool929

8 ай бұрын

@@joeydecarlo2532 Somebody did a market study somewhere and decided that heavier bottles have more appeal in some way I imagine. Otherwise, wineries would not go through the extra expense...

@scottnadel2721

6 ай бұрын

I had to buy a larger wine fridge for my Insignia, Hillside Select, and my Chateau De Beaucastel. Now when I buy a large bottle I have a place to put it. Initially it was extremely annoying when my first fridge couldn’t accommodate their large sizes. I get it though. If you’re spending $400 on a bottle it does feel special when you pick it up and it feels large and heavier than usual. Unnecessary but fun. Not fun if you have the wrong fridge.

1. Standardize bottle shapes 2. Establish return program 3. Incentive vintners/Educate consumers 4. Clean and reuse

@juanmanuelmunozhernandez7032

8 ай бұрын

Agree with everything except for bottle shapes. Some regions have used it as a marketing tool and nobody's got any right to impose a different bottle. The weight can be adjusted regardless of the shape.

@juanmanuelmunozhernandez7032

8 ай бұрын

@@user-bs3fu9go4f I completely agree. I just don't think it's fair to force producers to forgo a valuable branding tool just because some consumers are particularly annoyed by it (and I'm one of them).

@MrSilviable

8 ай бұрын

I LIKE MY DIF BOTTLE SHAPES... MAYBE JUST A RETURN PROGRAM

@xander1052

8 ай бұрын

Funny thing is, this is exactly how Chimay Monastary manages to keep a good supply of their bottles in their supply lines, and people who return their bottles to chimay are rewarded for doing so (for those in Benelux iirc). A very good thing with Chimay too is that many Belgian breweries have standardised behind one of 3 shapes: the Chimay short 330ml bottle, a taller 375 with a not so pronounced shoulder and a half size champagne bottle.

@prccap

8 ай бұрын

Return programs don’t work at all that’s why we stopped doing it with beer bottles almost 40 years ago.

Thanks for this team Baum. ...in Norway, the national-run liquor store ("Vinmonopolet") labels any 0.75L wine bottle under 420 grams "Klimasmart" (trans. "climate smart"). Hopefully the consumer values this and will put pressure on sales and then the large buyer that is the national liquor store can emphasize this in their buying and influence distributors/producers. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Light bottles also mean I can carry more downstairs to the recycling bins, which greatly suits my maximum-laziness approach. It also reduces my carbon footprint, since the more exercise I do, the more beans I eat.

@julescg

8 ай бұрын

But wouldn't that increase your methane footprint?

@ApothecaryTerry

8 ай бұрын

@@julescg Precisely - heavier bottles mean more trips which means more beans, which means more methane! Therefore lighter bottles are better. Also, I rent out my spare room and have a few health conditions that mean my farts are, apparently, both frequent and devastating. The knock-on effect is that it's very hard to detect the hint of tobacco flower in a beautifully-made Cabernet Sauvignon with a peg on your nose. It's also especially hard to drink wine while gagging and/or wretching. Therefore, indirectly, heavier bottles significantly reduce the enjoyment of wine. I may be exaggerating a few parts of that, but if it was all scaled up enough, it would all be true...

Woah, I never thought I'd hear you ever mention the SAQ, and as a Quebecer drinking more than my share of wine, mostly bought there of course, I was not aware they had implemented such a policy!

@HumbleGnome

8 ай бұрын

Même chose pour moi haha

@charlesdesmarchais1784

8 ай бұрын

Même chose ici. J'ai vrm fait le saut quand j'ai entendu SAQ!

I have been a part of the hospitality industry for over 20 years. I have worked with wine for over 10. I work exclusively with natural wine since 2016. I have all respect for your channel, I truly enjoy all your content and I hope all the wine enthusiasts end up watching your craft. Well done and thank you very much.

I remember SortedFood having a new product on one of their episodes, which was a wine bottle that looked like it had been driven over - it was so rectangular and thin front to back, but it was still 750ml and you could get ten of them in the space of four circular-bottomed wine bottles. That seemed a great idea for freight of wine - too good to be adopted, of course.

Thanks for the well thought out and eloquently delivered message for us to consider. 🤔🍷

There is a real charm in countries where producers also sell wine from the tap. It’s much more efficient and environmentally friendly. When I visit a producer that also makes this style of table wine I request to taste it I do agree that a lot of canned wine I have tasted had oxidation.

Thanks for the video. Absolutely agree I have started recording bottle weights when I write my wine notes. Bottles should weigh less and be consistent with shape. It is frustrating to buy a wine frig or storage system and not all bottles fit.

Brilliant and practical!

the winery i get my wine from asks for returning th ebottles if possible atm some 5l bottles cost more than the actual wine in it, its crazy

Amazing ! Thank you for this.

Thank you, Konstantin, for paying attention to the bottle problem! I noticed that the wines from Puglia (Italy) are often being bottled into abnormally heavy bottles made of dark, thick glass. And those wines are not of spectacular quality. You are absolutely right. Great video!

@DaMueff

8 ай бұрын

Yes. Many mediocre Primitivo wines contribute to that problem. Their bottles can be used as weapons which provides by far more joy than drinking the content.

@CD23_06

8 ай бұрын

I think generalising a whole region isn’t great. Some primitivo can be amazing and off the top of my head I think the best primitivo I had was in a heavy bottle. Now of course bottle weight wasn’t even a consideration, I ordered it at a local puglian restaurant and it was from a family vineyard. I guess the real issue is the fact that producers feel the need to use heavy bottles when it’s not necessary

@murczyk

8 ай бұрын

I totally agree with you@@CD23_06 , Those winemakers can make and make very good wines, (I love from appellation Primitivo di Manduria DOC). Just times have changed, if they want to sell their wine abroad, they have to adapt to these times and to consumers. And I would rather pay for yummy content of the bottle, and not for heavy glass and logistics and excess carbon emissions.

A great and important wine topic to cover, and I appreciate so much how you presented it. Nicely done.

Thanks Konstantin, good message!

Good call. I haven't bought wines based on bottle size since a long long time ago. I have discussed this with local producers as well, but it seems the heavy bottle helps the sales, so, it is difficult for them to use light bottles for their premium wines.

Konstantin, a great video because of the great message. I have been avoiding these heavy bottles for some years now. Firstly because they are often used for not so great wines, usually sweet and totally fruit driven reds. Some producers in South Italy - example Mario Ercolino (Nativ, Montedidio) - seem to bet on heavy bottles to fool us into thinking these wines are fantastic. Often highly rated by Luca Maroni by the way. Secondly, just as you are saying, heavy bottles bring a cost for the climate. Since you are saying some countries do put a limit on the bottle weight, something might be possible on the level of the European Commission or Parlement. Have you or anyone here explored this possibility?

Thanks a lot for the great research you've been doing, Konstantin! I've been thinking to turn this topic into my PhD and this video encouraged me to continue pursuing this! When it comes to wine bottle alternatives. I am a big fan of using keykegs and taps, as well as BiB's, in bars and restaurants. I'm not so much against using glass bottles at home, but the hospitality industry could do so much better and use some innovation! In Sweden, many entrepreneurs and distributors in the industry have been courageous enough to turn to taps and it works just great!

@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine

8 ай бұрын

That’s great to hear. I am looking forward to reading your dissertation

You can bottle the wine yourself with a tool and kork, when bought in tetra pack, or, even better, directly at the producer. Producers could even provide labels for the bottles for wine in tetrapack, or, even better, provide downloadables or sth like this with a qr code ...😊 Plenty of cool possibilties, they have to make it a cool fashion 😎

Hey Konstantin, similar problem in coffee business. Green coffee shipping in huge amounts unfortunately only small percentage is being used. 20% of green coffee weight is lost during roasting in the form of water vapour, in the cafes, extraction rate are no higher than 20 %. That means for every 1 kg of green coffee we drink only 160g.

Definitely agree. I feel it will require the high quality/high end wine producers to make a song and dance about this first. This will help give their customers the reassurance that a light bottle does not equal low quality. The trend should hopefully then filter down through the price brackets. This is analogous to the screwcap movement in the early 2000s, where high quality Australian and NZ producers like Grosset led the charge. Wineries should know there is low-hanging ESG kudos available here for first movers.

Some bottles are far too heavy. I once bought online a bottle of Valpolicella Ripasso. The weight of the empty bottle was 1.5kg! Lighter glass is surely the way forward for wine which is to be kept for 12 months or more.

I think it’s worth noting that a strict bottle can be worth it for that peace of mind. If I’ve already had a glass or 2 and I’m fetching the next bottle then I could be a little clumsy and so a thicker bottle which will survive me knocking it into the corner of the table on the way past (look, it’s just slightly longer than I think okay?) wouldn’t go amiss.

I love the wine bottle format, but you're right they are far too heavy. My recycling provider here in the US refuses to take wine bottles at all, and will actually fine you if they catch you trying to recycle them. I just don't understand why they would have this policy.

Thanks for talking about this! I would love a wine shop where I could fill up bottles from a tank and bring my own bottles. Like a cantina in Italy, however being from a non wine making country how would the wine be imported? Are there proper tests done to assess the quality of keg imports or mini tanks for example?

Love this!! I work is Australia selling for a distributor. We look after Jackson Family Wines in Oz and their three Australian brands over here, Giant Steps, Yangarra and Hickenbotham are all going to be bottled in lighter bottles going forward. Also Yangarra is at the fore front of carbon neutral wine making thanks to the investment from JFW. Plus the wines are some of the best that are produced here.

Thank you for video!

Very cool topic, thank you.

Apart from the weight of the bottle I also take the country of origin into account. Living in the Netherlands I prefer to buy wines from Germany, France and Italy. Although there’s so much great quality produced in the US, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina etc I think long distance transportation is not sustainable either. Perhaps also an interesting topic for a next episode? 😊

@DaMueff

8 ай бұрын

I totally understand your point of view and in general I support it. As an Austrian wine drinker, my go-to wines are primarily Austrian wines and then wines from other European countries (I especcially love Bordeaux). But: The more I learn about wine the more I get interested in other regions, countries, wine-making cultures.

@sonkegoldbeck8364

8 ай бұрын

It really depends on the means of transport. A wine transported from South Africa by ship to a Nothern European port e.g. Rotterdam or Hamburg should should have a smaller footprint than one that comes from Spain on a truck.

Being a home wine maker I always re-use my bottles. I even remove the labels from store bought ones and clean/sanitize store bought wine bottles. Family and friends save their empties for me. My problem is with screw cap bottles as those are not re-usable for me. A good (affordable) home wine maker solution for screw caps would be nice.

Totally agree!

Great video, love this!

Last year we were in Croatia tasting some wine and tons of people were coming directly to the winery with their own bottles and getting them filled. I thought that was such a great idea. I wonder if such things also happen in other places? Italy maybe?

The province of Ontario Canada has a unique system that encourages ALL Beer, Wine, & Liquor to be returned to what we refer to as "THE BEER STORE" The result is a huge percentage of containers returned for both recycling AND Reuse. Canadian Brewers used to use a couple of Standard bottles that were easy to be reused. Cans however are now mostly the default. Were the wine industry to implement a series of standard bottles that would allow for more Re-use world wide, that could go a long way. For example: were (don't laugh) Canadian Wineries able to re-use French, Italian, US & the bottles it would mitigate a lot of CO2 in the wine consumed her. Ditto in the rest of the world.

I bought magnums for a week. And switched to one of those big ol carlo rossi jugs. Superfresh like 40 pours from a 4 liter jug! stupid sweet tho, painsano is like 100% extra residual sugars. its a zinfandel grape minus all that abv. mixed into merlot with cabernet sauvignon. I would go chardonnay or burgundy. if your gunna have some! the burgundy is syrah mix and i am assuming chardonnay is just that. Beats boxes even tho its a liter shorter. I like to pour! no pun intended.

I totally agree with you on this point, as its total vanity and foolishness to have these ultra heavy bottles of wine. And as you said their quality is usually somewhere between mediocre to poor. I think if you want to grab a Tetra Pak, or canned wine for a picnic or a casual get together with friends and family that's a great idea. But if you are buying wine from a classic region with ageability it should be in a glass bottle that weighs at least less than 500 grams. (Unless its a sparkling wine.) Cheers Konstantin, this is a message that needs to be repeated again and again. Bravo!

Great that you adress this!

I had a conversation with Cedric Moussé about his Champagnes, and he is making a concerted effort to bringing down the weight of this bottles. He’s shaved 75g so far to get down to 875g, and he’s working with glass makers to get it down further to 750g. Tablas Creek is also making a lot of effort on this front, with all of their wines going into the same bottle weighing 468g. On another note, I wish we can get Germany and Alsace to move away from their Riesling bottle shape. It is a pain to store them in wine fridges, especially the magnums!

Thank you! I can’t agree more! Heavy bottles create so much waste. Let’s throw out the wax capsule too and I’m all in!!

Totally agree. Lighter bottles are better for so many reasons. Odd (or exactly the wrong reason for a heavy bottle) that a grand cru bordeaux can come in a respectable weight bottle but a 5 euro 99 point Luca Maroni wine comes in a brick of a bottle that weighs 2 kilos. Same goes for a lot of cheap sweet(ened) Primitivo.

@bredweren

8 ай бұрын

Exactly what I thought: Luca Maroni rated wines = heavy bottle 😂

@DaMueff

8 ай бұрын

@@bredweren Ah, Luca Maroni doesn't score quality but the heaviness of the bottles instead! That explains everything! So a 100 point Luca Maroni wine will be bottled in a bottle with more than 1.5 kilograms, a 99 point wine in a bottle with 1.4 - 1.5 kilograms and so on ...

Wine in box is very good for party's, BBQ etc. If only a decent variety of quality wines would be available in wine in boxes. If you live in a wine producing region you could use special plastic jerry cans to get your daily wine in, I know that in France this was (still is?) quite usual. I also know that some German wine producers since decades have a bring the bottle back, get discount on your next buy programmes.

I think the big problem in the wine world is the sharp drop in wine consumption, a problem that concerns wine producers everywhere, The weight of the wine bottles, the carbon footprint etc is an environmental issue of course but I just don't think a lot of people really sees it as a problem at all outside some countries in Europe, the US and maybe Australia. In certain places like China they actually look for heavier bottles to purchase because those are associated with quality

Excellent shout-out!!! Easy change, more joy. Thanks.

How about the traditional method sparkling wine (especially big Champagne house who produces thousands of bottles every year) As it needs to conduct the second fermentation within the bottle, the bottle needs to resist at most 6 bars of pressure and it has to be a little heavier.

Light light light. This can only help with export as winemakers will find wholesalers more willing to take on risk if the additional import costs are reduced with lighter wines

Excellent video and the points made so valid - and as an opinion leader Konstantin, your call to action will probably make a difference. Viva the lightweights for the heavy weights ( and all the other qualities in between…)

Good topic, lots of ideas for improvement here.

Tetrapaks are not widely recycled. Aluminium is very energy intensive to produce new, even more than glass. The plastic bags in boxes are not recycled anywhere so will go to landfill. These are big issues. The fact that the US does not recycle bottles to a reasonable extent is a shame they need to bear and a global reality their legislators need to address rather then the petty backyard politics they seem to thrive on. Local bottling as happens for many wines sold in the UK, from places such as Chile, where it is shipped in bladders in containers and then bottled in a UK based warehouse will reduce the carbon foot print massively and still allow local recycling to be carried out.

I agree. I can adjust to lighter bottle.

I love an heavy bottle. I think it suggests that the winemaker is proud of that wine, I prefer the bottle to the label as an indicator of what is inside. But you are spot on, heavy is not beneficial. Good video.

Thanks for making this video...as usual, well researched. CA producers, in my experience, seem to be the worst offenders--bottles that are at least 2-3 times heavier than they need to be. Now, I'm thinking that they are 5 times heavier than they need to me (400g bottles are sufficient). It takes to two hands to pour a glass of wine sometimes.

Good point, good comments. On our yacht I take the ‘bag in box’ since many years. On long voyages I need to save on weight, however not on quality. Just take in mind the weight difference between 100 bottles and 25 bag in boxes. Easier to store, easier to use, nicer priced. I am happy that in Nordic countries good quality wines in bags are widely available.

I really enjoyed this video ❤ I like when content creators use their channels to bring some consciousness to both customers and producers ❤❤❤ great!

Would love to see you review a first, second and third grow of the same winery!

Great video. I'm also sad to see that it's become a race for daily wines to have the heaviest or most original bottle, just to stand out. I think bottle weight would be the most effective to regulate since the shape of the bottle is still a point of expression, or heritage, for many wineries, just like the label

Thanks for addressing this. I’m an importer and I had this conversation when I started my agency 5 years ago. We certainly hear a lot of producers who use heavy glass saying why they can’t change (perception, etc) but all of the producers (none of whom use heavier glass) I work with totally understand why this is a train they want to be on. Many are experimenting with small kegs for btg offerings and trying out other options as they come along. I really believe in progress over perfection, and that where the alternative packaging world is today isn’t where it will be tomorrow or next year, so even small changes across the industry right now are important. We saw what the energy costs in Europe did to bottle glass pricing… it’s the largest act of “head in the sand” for any producer to think that won’t happen again and be worse.

It's very good that you raise this important and neglected topic!

Great video! I 100% agree. Although, I find this simple change being met with much pushback from the average Napa Valley wine consumer.

More and more winebars are serving wine on tap. At first I didn't like it but if the wine is young and not supposed to be aged then why not. Also there are importers who take this very seriously. For example Rosforth & Rosforth in Copenhagen where I usually get my wines have a ship they sail down to France loading it with wine. Several of the bottles they sell are marked with "Fair transport cargo under sail". As a consumer if you are interested you can choose these options or at least support the businesses offering them.

Great to see you bringing up this issue! Lighter bottles should be a no-brainer for any winery that claims to be conscious of the environment.

So glad you're addressing this issue. The large bottle problem is so prevalent in Napa Valley and is oftentimes committed by the same wineries who profess to be "organic" or "biodynamic" (thereby implying they are stewards of the environment). Pretty hypocritical if you ask me and only speaks to the ego issues by some of these "my bottle is bigger than yours" producers. In addition to the environmental factors you mentioned, heavier/larger bottles make storage a nightmare..it's so much easier if every cabernet producer used the same standard size/weight Bordeaux bottles for which wine storage systems and racks are designed. Stacking Napa Valley cabs is a nightmare as the bottles come in so many different shapes. Also if you need more room for storage, that also takes more energy for cooling.

Thumbs up Konstantin, great initiative

One more who agrees. Question: would lighter bottles work with sparkling wines and the higher pressure inside them?

I'm so so agree with you, I hate those vanity heavy bottles. To my shame, as Latin American, Chile an Argentina are common offenders in this practice sadly.😢

We've come a long way, at least here in Australia, where flagons were used and you then went to the winery to refill them. But of course these flagons didn't look pretty, unlike bottles with fancy labels and foils, so it was a consumer choice about consumption from different enclosures. Then in 1965 Tom Angove created the first 'bag in the box' wine container which was further enhanced by Wynn's, with a tap in 1971. So this was ideal for barbeques and dinner parties but the quality wasn't quite up to the wine released in bottles, except some in 2 litre packs which were passable. I agree Konstantin that we should be mindful now on the expense and carbon omissions from bottle manufacture and use new technology wherever possible whilst also recycling them (we do this at Domaine Chandon Australia). BTW that disturbing image of a Petrus bottle under a gas bottle proved your point....somewhat!

We should all write to our online wine shops to identify bottles that are bigger than normal so that we aren’t surprised when these oversized wines arrive in the mail.

I'm surprised to hear that the shelf life of a can is not that long (3:00)... it's a hermetic metal box that (normally) doesn't let any air or light in; I'm a bit sceptical that a can only has a 12 month shelf life; it should be longer unless there was a problem during canning (which happens), but if there isn't any problem during canning than the shelf life should be relatively long. Canned food lasts for years... Maybe wine is canned in an inefficient way, reducing its shelf life. Or maybe we're just used to how bottled wine tastes. It's also possible that wine just naturally tastes better in glass bottles. More and more craft breweries are using cans after years of snobbery against them. For some reason we've decided that glass bottles look cooler, maybe because we're used to seeing great wines and champagnes in bottles; glass was also quite expensive at first and therefore could be seen as more "noble" than earthenware and metal tankards (and I guess having beautiful glasses showed you were successful and rich, it was a status symbol). Cans are so much better for certains styles of beers, especially hoppy pale beers as hops are easily influenced by UVs (too much light and your beer smells and tastes bad), and they can oxidise quite quickly. That being said, some beers can be aged and they seem to age better in bottles (lambics, stouts, trappists, barley wines). I guess glass bottles may be the best way to age alcohol...

@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine

8 ай бұрын

That is the information from a large bottler who also uses cans. Apparently they use a liner that decays over time, causing the can to fail

@martinkirsch5969

8 ай бұрын

@@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine OK, that makes sense! Apparently acidic foods and beverages can also accelerate the decay of the liner; so things like water or potatoes will last a long time in cans, whereas canned tomatoes or acidic beverages (for example) will have shorter shelf lives. Some flavours also tend to disappear and decay. Beer's a good example: floral and fruity notes brought by hops only last a few months (that's why many IPAs need to be drunk quickly after they were brewed).

I work at a winery where customers do bring back their clean used bottles and fill them. And at a cheaper price. It's very popular. 🍷🙂

Light!

wow I just thought about this issue couple of days ago and there is a video today! Did somebody read my mind?😅haha Always thank you for the videos Konstantin🙏

Working in the industry, alot has changed since the Russia/Ucraine situation started last year.. I used to bottle in 400g, but none are found since 2022. Glass manufacturers are takning advantage of the current market situation in order to charge 40% more for a heavier bottle claiming its the only "weight" available.

Good timing, just opened a bottle of Italian wine that is in a stupidly heavy bottle (almost 1200 g). Why? Makes it harder to ship, handle, pour, recycle. Let's apply some common sense.

I comment even though I do not completely agree ;) I agree for like 95% of the wines. But for the special bottle, the pinnacle of winemaking, those that are a special event to drink, those I like to have a heavier bottle.because it adds to the feeling of drinking something special. So what would I suggest? How about a CO2 compensation fee for bottles that exceed a certain weight? That would be an incentive for most winemakers towards lighter bottles. And those customers who can afford those specials bottles (few percent of the market by the amount of bottles) can easily also pay the CO2 compensation fee.

I once was in Franken, Germany where I visited a facility where vignerons brought empty bottles to get them cleaned to reuse them.

Most wines don’t even need to go into bottles, a good portion of the wine industry is producing wines to be drunk within a year or two of production, the only reason they don’t use more sustainable packaging is because people think it looks tacky. It really surprises me about all these natural wine producers that spend so much money on marketing to make consumers feel good about drinking their biodynamic wines with no preservatives, but no attention is ever paid to the bottle. The wine is going to putrid in no time at all because of the lack of preservatives thus having no value, yet they want it in a format that ages well. Stick it in a milk carton.

Well presented argument. Acknowledging that turning this oil tanker will take generations of time, the short-term achievable goal is bottle weight regulation. Very interesting. Thank you.

In Italy there are wine shops that you bring your own bottles and fill them from large tanks. Good cheap wine.

The more expensive the wine glass, the thinner the glass. Why are bottles opposite? I really doubt consumers notice or care, but producers are out of touch with consumers. This is why, with whisky and brandy especially but wine too, I see so many ornate boxes and foil and Christmas tree-like decorations. I hate seeing that and knowing I am paying for it. It is just gaudy on expensive bottles but on cheaper bottles, a significant portion of what I am paying for ends up in the landfill before I even take my first sip. I can't believe any consumer wants that. Under $100, packaging should be as cheap as possible. Above that, it should be tasteful but simple and refined.

It would be fun to see a tasting video with wines in cans :D The swedish alcohol monopoly are leaning heavily into can as a more sustainable alterative. The Swedish company Djuce for example are packaging some great wines into cans including a Mâcon Village wine from Verget

This is a really important issue! Producers must grav this ESG window of opportunity and use it for generate a better chain of production !

As others have mentioned - standardisation of bottle sizes together with a deposit & return scheme (just like the beer industry did) would be a good step. Here in Germany it pains me that perfectly good bottles are recycled only as broken glass - totally ignoring the energy used in creating them. I guess the other option is to eliminate glass altogether and use box-wine technology for higher-end products. I can't see that happening though

@61hink

8 ай бұрын

"Just like the beer industry did." Was this true in Germany but is no longer true? At one time in the U.S. some beers were sold in refillable bottles, but that's no longer true as far as I know.

@trevorluker

8 ай бұрын

@@61hink Beer bottles (and cans) in Germany are quite standardised and typically have a small return deposit applied at the time of purchase. It's still very much active and I haven't heard any serious discussions about getting rid of it. My comment was meant to say that the beer industry managed to do it and I can't see any reason the wine industry would not be able to.

@61hink

8 ай бұрын

@@trevorluker So in Germany beer bottles are actually refilled? That's what I was asking about, sorry if I wasn't clear. In the US there is a small deposit and return fee for all bottles and cans but for recycling only. But at one time some beers were sold in refillable bottles. The bottles were thicker and sturdier, and recappable. It was cheaper to buy the beer in refillable bottles but you had to pay about a $15 deposit and only got your deposit back if you returned the entire case of empties to the store. That option no longer exists here as far as I know. Thanks.

Great video Konstantin, thank you for addressing this issue. Bottle weight should also be regulated by governments and denominations.

@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine

8 ай бұрын

Thank you!

I would like that my country could create a glass and rubber recycling facility so that we can support road building and our local rum destileries and pharmaceutical businesses.

Great message. Wine traditionalists (like me!) are unlikely to embrace non-glass wine containers.

Right. That's all there is to it:...winequaducts. Rome, eat your heart out!

Light bottles, yes!

The decoupling point is too early in the chain. Bring bottling to the local wineshop or disti. Is there already a compact refill station available? I feel a tech startup in the making ;) And use only 1 or 2 universal bottle types like in the soft drink world. The wine supply chain is still very old fashioned.

light

Maybe part of the answer is to electrify the vehicles used for delivery and electrify the production of glass. Sweden has developed the technology to smelt iron so that it doesn't produce Co2. Surely glass manufacturing can do the same?

The Bodega Chacra from Argentina makes great wines but uses really lightweight bottles!

As your local Wine and Liquor store worker, the viewers at home now see that it isn’t all peaches and cream managing a several thousand bottle inventory of every assortment of alcoholic beverages ;)

If only Napa would adapt to standardized bottles..

I think you are half correct half wrong here... Should we re-use wine bottles like breweries do? Yeah, but dont demonize the glass bottle since is one of the most recyclable materials we have, more than plastic or metal. Instead of US glass recycling rate tell us the German, Spanish, french or italian glass recycling rate.

@samvon3177

8 ай бұрын

Italy recycled about 77% of glass packaging in 2021. I can search for the other countries, if of interest

@samvon3177

8 ай бұрын

Germany is about 80%, France slightly above 60%

@bugsygoo

8 ай бұрын

Why wouldn't you give the number for the biggest wine market in the world? Given what an environmental pig the US is, I'd say it's pretty relevant.

@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine

8 ай бұрын

I tried to make clear that the glass bottle is without alternatives for certain wines and very useful for most. It is true that most European countries recycle around 75% of their glass

A common saying..."The heavier the bottle, the bigger the winemaker's ego". Are you listening, Darioush? (His bottles weigh 3 lbs. plus. though they do make for some serious weapons once empty).

An important matter!

Looking at you CnP bottles

Actually, I could see taking weight of packaging into account. If two wines of about equal quality are offered, I would strongly lean toward the lighter bottle.

Exellent content…

And Corks are for dorks 😊 Screw tops please 🙏