Wolf Blass Wine in P.E.T. Bottles
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.21.06
Oh, the sacrifices we make for TreeHugger. We normally drink local Ontario wines to support local producers and cut down the carbon footprint of what we eat and drink, but had to break down and try the new Wolf Blass Bilyara Reserve, packaged in PET and supposedly generating 80% less waste than glass. To its shame, our Government owned Liquor Control Board does not do deposits and bottle returns, and while our municipalities recycle, coloured glass can only be "downcycled" (to use Bill McDonough's term) into lower grade products. PET can be recycled into lots of things so it is possibly better than glass, and certainly better than the tetrapak alternative the LCBO flogs as well. It also is much lighter and therefore uses less fuel to ship around the world from Australia. We are pleased to report that the bottle was smaller, lighter and easier to transport by boat to our sinful second home. The wine isn't bad, either, although drinking wine from halfway around the world still leaves a bad taste in our mouths when alternatives are made a hundred miles away. Interestingly, we learn from an Australian website that it was not developed to save the world, but for sale at sporting events in Britain, where evidently people do nasty things with glass bottles. Trust the marketing geniuses at the LCBO to promote the environmental benefits of this wine with a 10 page glossy brochure, which includes the word "unbreakable" -the Globe and Mail decided to test this, copied below the fold.
'Unbreakable' bottle
DOMINI CLARK
When we saw the new Wolf Blass P.E.T. bottles described as "unbreakable" in the promo material, we knew we had to put the claim to the test.
First, we dropped a bottle from waist height while walking. It was fine. Then we kicked it, stepped on it, threw it down stairs and beat it with a hammer. The bottle was dented, the label was torn and the screw cap was bashed in, but it was in one piece.
Next, we threw it off a one-storey railing. No problems! Then we tossed it off a two-storey roof. And that's when the fun ended. The bottom shattered. Unbreakable? Not quite.
You should think to me,that i must drink Chianti wine,because i live in Tuscany!I'm despairing!:)
Wouldn't tasting the wine be the most important thing, rather seeing if the bottle can be broken? Sheesh!
This idea may be fatally flawed - what about the possibility of the suspected carcinogen Antimony leeching into the wine?
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2006/January/19010601.asp
The longer a liquid is in a PET container the higher the level of Antimony found. With wine, where you could leave it in the bottle for years to improve the taste, this could mean it exceeding the recommended safe level.
I dont think the use of any plastics are good whether its recyclable or not. Glass is made from mostly sand and some other alkalies and some times metallic oxide. But has the posibility to be made from all "earthen" elements like sand, ash, and seasalt.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/oceans/la-oceans-series,0,7842752.special
this link is from an LAtimes special on the shape of the ocean. The biggest problem and future danger comes from plastics. The article has videos and ariticles. One such describes the ocean having fine plastic particles floating around in high concentration close to the giant floating garbage islands off the US west coast and japonese east coast. They are worried how marrine life will suffer in the future as more and more things are going plastic
on top of that, make your own wine, very little footprint there. My mother makes her own wine and has been reusing her bottles forever. No preservatives and built to taste. I actually cant stand any store baught wine, not nearly as palatable. Check out your local "brew your own wine" store. They basically do it for you, you just bottle it. and it only costs roughly 3-4$ a bottle!
Why not use a box?
it seems my above link got cut
its very well done
PaulH, in Australia a huge percentage of wine is bought to be consumed right away - something like 90%. My local bottleshop (and I hope to see the Wolf Blass there, they also stock Banrock Station's eco-friendly label) tends to separate the "wine for keeping for a long time" into it's own area, so that you don't accidentally quaff something that's actually valuable :)
being from the uk, i love the sound of breaking glass...
but i was under the impression that wine was shipped in large vats and bottled closer to the point of sale. can anyone confirm/deny this? i tend to go for european wines to minimise food miles but the irony is that the uk wine industry (never noted for its massive output) is growing as climate change turns the southern counties into the costa del sol.
and plastic recycling is only really just taking off here so most of it is still going in the bin :(
Let's not forget their 8 page glossy insert in the paper with 2 sentences on each page. Oh yes, it was made out of 10% post consumer waste, so that really makes it environmentally friendly ;-)
Where can I buy these P.E.T bottles