Wine in a Bottle or a Box?
There has been much debate and many studies done weighing the factors of the packaging of wine. I find this debate to be troublesome based on the fact that when I buy a wine, I’m looking for taste, not necessarily packaging. So I decided to do some research to see if there was some compelling reason to change my ways.
Franklin Associates has done a very informative study (search for “tetra pak”) on the comparison of glass bottles, tetra paks, and PET bottles. Based on who paid for the study (sponsored by the manufactures of tetra pak), read the numbers carefully and with a grain of salt. However, they make a compelling argument for tetra paks, weighing factors like manufacturing of the packaging, transportation to the winery, transportation to the distribution center, and how the product is disposed of. With all those factors being equal, the packaging with the lower weight will always win.
As a consumer trying to make a better decision, there were some assumptions that bothered me though. The comparison was done assuming the winery was in northern California and had to ship 1500 miles to a distribution center. With that fact, the tetra pak beats the glass bottle hands down, as it should. But I wanted to see if buying a tetra pak from a California winery is better than my local (Ohio) wine in a glass bottle. Apparently this study was trying to sway the wineries to make the change, not the consumer forcing the change with buying power.
Unfortunately what I was looking for isn’t available. So my assumption (using just my brain to come up with this) is that almost all the transportation effects on the environment have been eliminated and therefore local is a great choice. Additionally, it has the added bonus of supporting your local economy.
My conclusions: If you are going to buy wine from a long distance winery, try to get one in a tetra pak. I personally will stick to local wineries (and likely buy it directly from the winery). Regardless of which way you go, always make sure you recycle or reuse the packaging. I’ve found tons of craft projects using wine bottles and corks… Do a search and find out.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Hi I was googling and found your blog looking for california wine, I thought that this post, Wine in a Bottle or a Box?, was right in line with my own thoughts on the matter.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
[…] On this fine St. Patty’s Day, raise a pint of the local beer. If you are more of a wine person, see my post on Wines. […]