Rising temperatures, increasingly destructive forest fires, flooding and drought are some of the ecological issues leading to an increase in ‘eco-anxiety’. It’s a term I first heard of from Michelle Bouffard, sommelier, educator and founder of Tasting Climate Change, an international event organized on the initiative of Michelle, who acts as moderator of the conference. Michelle also offers training and consulting on the impact of climate change in the wine world.
Back in 2017, when she was organizing the first Tasting Climate Change conference, she was surprised at the hesitation many wineries showed. Turns out they didn’t want to address the concept because they feared negative press—that perhaps their wines weren’t good anymore.
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Six years later it’s no longer possible to ignore that this is a global issue and there’s an understanding that you’re either part of the solution or part of the problem. Having a company policy that addresses climate change is seen as a positive and consumers are often drawn to or search out companies that have such policies.
Michelle Bouffard is a sommelier, educator and the founder of Tasting Climate Change.
While wineries and wine regions are doing many things now to mitigate and adapt to climate change, here are a few things the consumer can do at their end of the chain:
Look for lightweight wine bottles
Packaging is responsible for up to 40 percent of the carbon footprint of a wine. There’s a global glass shortage, sometimes forcing producers to turn to buying from China which makes the carbon footprint skyrocket. Some producers still favour a heavy bottle due to tradition or company branding but Bouffard says “the planet is hurting and we need to find other ways to market our wine.”
Skip the bottle and go for a can
According to Bouffard, between 90-99 percent of wine is consumed within the first week of purchase. Many fresh, crisp wines like rosé are well-suited to cans seeing as those wines aren’t meant to be cellared anyway. Plus, they’re ideal as single servings for those times when you don’t want to open a bottle that may not get finished.
Try boxed wines
You get approximately five bottles of wine in a typical boxed wine and they last up to six weeks after opening, plus the price point is much lower than buying six bottles of the same wine. It’s a win-win, or should I say a wine-wine situation?
In Sweden nearly 51 percent of wines sold are bag-in-box, making this a great option for a party or as your own house wine for the next month and a bit! Here in North America, we’ve identified boxed wines as being bad simply because we were putting bad wines in those boxes but there are increasingly good options available, so seek them out and give your wallet and the planet a break. While the bag itself is currently not recyclable, at least the box is.
Lighten up on the bottles, for the Earth’s sake!
Stick with corks
Bouffard says there’s a myth that there is a global cork shortage and thus twist caps are more environmentally conscious. In actuality cork (natural cork, not the synthetic type) is more sustainable and takes less energy to produce. It takes 25 years before you can harvest the cork from a tree, but once harvested, it increases that tree’s ability to capture carbon by five times. Plus, while the aluminum bottle caps are recyclable, not many folks actually recycle them.
Reduce, re-use or recycle?
Depending on what province you live in, while you do your bit by putting glass bottles in your recycling bin, they sometimes end up in landfill anyway. Even when recycled the amount of energy required in this process is huge, the ideal situation would be to wash and reuse those bottles but that would require a system-wide overhaul.
In Ontario, for example, one can return eligible wine, beer and spirit containers to The Beer Store for a deposit return. When these containers are placed in your recycling bins, especially glass, additional and unnecessary costs are added to your recycling program.
Bouffard encourages consumers to look for wineries that are certified sustainable so you can feel confident that they have a commitment and an active plan to address climate change.
“I think the world of wine will change,” says Bouffard. “You might see wines from countries you haven’t seen before. You might see some grapes you haven’t heard of before… because it’s a new country producing wine or those are grapes that are better adapted to climate change. You will be exposed to new flavours. Be open-minded. Try those wines, try those regions, try those grapes you haven’t tasted before.”
