Which is greener?

From the New York Times:

Glass Is Greener

To the Editor:

Re “Drink Outside the Box,” by Tyler Colman (Op-Ed, Aug. 18):

Without a doubt, glass bottles are greener than wine boxes.

Calculating a carbon footprint based solely on trucking capacity is myopic and fails to consider the carbon costs for extraction and manufacturing.

Just envision the various elements that have to go into creating a wine box. It involves many more steps, materials and energy inputs than are required for making a glass bottle.

As for recycling, most communities can handle glass, which is 100 percent recyclable. Good luck finding programs that handle wine boxes.

The choice is clear: glass is greener.

Joseph J. Cattaneo

President

Glass Packaging Institute

Alexandria, Va., Aug. 19, 2008

Letter - Glass Is Greener - Letter - NYTimes.com

Italy is drinking outside the box

From the New York Times:

Drink Outside the Box

August 18, 2008
By TYLER COLMAN
Op-Ed Contributor

ITALY’S Agriculture Ministry announced this month that some wines that receive the government’s quality assurance label may now be sold in boxes. That’s right, Italian wine is going green, and for some connoisseurs, the sky might as well be falling.

But the sky isn’t falling. Wine in a box makes sense environmentally and economically. Indeed, vintners in the United States would be wise to embrace the trend that is slowly gaining acceptance worldwide.

Wine in a box has been around for more than 30 years — though with varying quality. The Australians were among the first to popularize it. And hardly a fridge in the south of France, especially this time of year, is complete without a box of rosé. Here in America, by contrast, boxed wine has had trouble escaping a down-market image. But now that wine producers are talking about reducing their carbon footprint — that is, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in the transportation of wine — selling the beverage in alternative, lighter packaging instead of heavier glass seems like the right thing to do.

More than 90 percent of American wine production occurs on the West Coast, but because the majority of consumers live east of the Mississippi, a large part of carbon-dioxide emissions associated with wine comes from simply trucking it from the vineyard to tables on the East Coast. A standard wine bottle holds 750 milliliters of wine and generates about 5.2 pounds of carbon-dioxide emissions when it travels from a vineyard in California to a store in New York. A 3-liter box generates about half the emissions per 750 milliliters. Switching to wine in a box for the 97 percent of wines that are made to be consumed within a year would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about two million tons, or the equivalent of retiring 400,000 cars.

But here’s another reason to sell wine in a box. America will soon become the largest wine market in the world. In recent years, we overtook Italy, and France is now in our sights. (This is total consumption, not per person; we are still well behind by the latter measure.) As Americans drink more wine, we will be drinking it not only on special occasions like dates and weddings, but also on Monday nights with pizza. That’s a lot of wine — and potentially a big carbon footprint.

Although some sommeliers may scoff at wine from a plastic spigot, boxes are perfect for table wines that don’t need to age, which is to say, all but a relative handful of the top wines from around the world. What’s more, boxed wine is superior to glass bottle storage in resolving that age-old problem of not being able to finish a bottle in one sitting. Once open, a box preserves wine for about four weeks compared with only a day or two for a bottle. Boxed wine may be short on charm, but it is long on practicality.

Which leads to a final reason for boxed wine: it’s so much more economical. Having an affordable glass of wine may be the best way to keep our 15-year bull market for wine consumption running. It also would help keep per-glass prices of wine from rising as the dollar falls.

The main obstacle to a smaller carbon footprint for wine is the frequently abysmal quality of wine put in boxes. But that’s an easy fix: raise the quality.

In the past few years, the boxed wine sold in America has shown some signs of improvement. There’s been wine in a stylish cardboard tube made by a top winemaker in Burgundy. There’s a good, old-vine grenache from the Pyrenees sold in a box. A succulent unoaked malbec from organically grown grapes in Argentina is now available in the United States thanks to the 1-liter TetraPak, which is also being used by three renegade Californians who have a line of wines that are sold in 250-milliliter packages — about the size of juice boxes, but without straws. And then, of course, there’s the news from Italy.

Producers everywhere need to deliver better wine in a box — and make it snappy. Perhaps they will if consumers start to demand that everyday wines that don’t need to age in a bottle be sold in a box. If you’re sorry about the change, squeeze off another well-preserved, affordable, low-carbon serving of boxed wine and mull it over.

Op-Ed Contributor - Wine in a Box Protects the Environment and Saves You Money - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

A gold medal for a box

Results of the Dallas Morning News Wine Competition for 2008 are in, and a boxed wine made it into a fine list of gold medal winning budget wines:

7 gold-medal winning wines for $12 or less
02:16 PM CDT on Thursday, April 10, 2008
By REBECCA MURPHY / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

Wines in The Dallas Morning News Wine Competition are judged by grape variety and, in some large categories, by vintage. That's all the judges know when they are tasting the wines. So a $5 bottle or box of wine may be judged beside a $100 bottle.

No disrespect intended to those $100 bottles, which can be quite complex and in need of more time to come together in the bottle. The real finds each year, though, are the budget wines that are worthy of gold medals. These are wines meant to be poured today, so they are delicious today, and they get the attention of the judges. They deserve your attention, too. All the wines on these pages are available in the Dallas market for $12 or less.

. . .

Corbett Canyon, California, Chardonnay NV

If you have resisted buying wine in a box, get over it. Boxed wines have been winning medals in this and other competitions for several years, which means the quality is there. And, packaged in a box, the quality lasts longer than it will in a bottle, because the wine is protected from oxygen. This wine is light-bodied with chardonnay's crisp apple, citrus and pear flavors. Enjoy it with light pasta dishes. You can always serve it from a carafe so your guests will never know it came from a box. Available at Beverage City and Sigel's, $10.99 per 3-liter box.

. . .

7 gold-medal winning wines for $12 or less | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Wine and Spirits | Food | Dallas Morning News

New Tap Design Improves Shelf Life

From Off Licence News (UK):

Four-month shelf life for bag-in-box wines

Published: 28-09-2007
Written by: Graham Holter

Bag-in-box wine could stay fresh and drinkable for more than four months, according to a manufacturer who has developed a new type of tap.

Worldwide Dispensers' new ViniPlus system boasts a "greatly improved oxygen barrier" which enhances shelf life far more effectively than current designs, it claims.

The company added: "As well as its shelf life properties, the new tap offers a number of consumer convenience features. A self-closing, one handed front push button enables precise control of the direction and flow of the wine and the tear away cap around the button provides effective tamper evidence. In addition, a special valve seals the outlet after every use, preventing hang up in the spout."

Recent research from Wine Intelligence and the Wine & Spirit Trade Association has found that half of UK wine drinkers would buy bag-in-box wines for a party, but one in five said they would not buy them under any circumstances.

Most people who reject them find the packaging unappealing, though 17 per cent said they believed the wine would not be kept in good condition.

Four-month shelf life for bag-in-box wines | Off Licence News - The Voice Of Drinks Retailing

Technorati Tags: box, boxed, cask, wine, bag-in-box

The Bag inside the Box Is Improving

Bag-in-box packaging has long been recognized to have limitations in the oxygen-barrier department. Oxygen is wine's enemy, and the imperfect oxygen barrier offered by the BiB package places serious limitations on the shelf life of a box of wine. I have seen estimates of 12 to 18 months, and I've heard that boxed wine should probably be consumed within 6 months of purchase.

Wine consumers, and the wine industry have been looking forward to promised improvements in the technology. Perhaps now some improvement is on the horizon. This press release from Rapak promises better oxygen barriers in bags and taps, and an innovative fill head which minimizes oxygenation on filling.

Another interesting point in this press release: boxed wine sales in France increased fivefold (by volume) in five years, reaching 854,000 hl by 2004.

January 23, 2007 01:00 PM Eastern Time
Thanks to Rapak – Fine Wines From France Are in the Bag
Unified Wine & Grape Symposium 2007

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bag-in-box packaging has come a long way since it first emerged as a “party pack.” Now connoisseurs can enjoy high quality French and Californian bag-in-box wines by the glass at home, thanks to companies like Rapak, one of the world’s leading suppliers of complete bag-in-box systems.

Rapak has won over leading producers in Europe such as Prodis (Carrefour Group), Chais Beaucairois (Marie-Brizard Group) and Vignerons Ardechois. These makers of fine wines are now turning to the bag-in-box format to drive market share, overcoming a traditional market reluctance to use this type of packaging. The strategy has been successful with sales of bag-in-box wines in France increasing fivefold over a five year period (from 170,000 hl in 98/99 to 854,000 hl in 03/04).

The switch of quality wines from bottle to bags in Europe comes as the result of major advances in filling and packaging technology with Rapak leading the research-based advances. Rapak is now offering this proven technology for packing quality wines in Bag in Box in the USA.

The key factor is the ability to reduce the amount of oxygen in the finished pack to minimal levels. Traditionally it has been necessary to add sulphur dioxide to ‘soak up’ oxygen, and since this can adversely affect the flavour of more sensitive quality wines it limits the range of wines able to be packed into bags. Now Rapak has introduced new technologies including:

* Enhanced oxygen barriers on the films which line the bags
* A high oxygen barrier dispense tap with simple button operation and a lift and peel security seal
* A patented Nitrogen shrouded fill head which minimizes Dissolved oxygen pickup during the filling process

The combination of these technological developments is shelf-life extension. Oxygen ingress is the major factor dictating the long-term quality of the wine, therefore reduced oxygen during filling and storage can significantly extend shelf life.

The combination of the technological advances in packaging and filling and the ready acceptance by consumers and retailers of this packaging format means bag-in-box wine is set to become an even more familiar sight on the supermarket shelf.

Thanks to Rapak -- Fine Wines From France Are in the Bag

technorati tags: box, boxed, wine, bag-in-box, Rapak

Boxed Wine Around the Globe -- India

Boxed wine is coming to India. This from Monday's edition of the Hindustan Times:

Bag-in-box wines to make an entry into the Indian market
Zeeshan Shaikh
Nasik, January 15, 2007

With the Maharashtra Government giving a go-ahead for supermarkets to sell bottles of wine, wineries in the state in order to facilitate customer convenience are now planning to sell wine in boxes.

Two of the states leading wineries Sula and Vinsura Vineyards are soon planning to launch Bag-in-box wines also known as "box wines". These are wines packaged in a bag usually made of aluminised PET film and protected by a box, usually made of standard corrugated cardboard. The bag is sealed by a simple plastic tap, which is used to dispense the wine.

The most common sizes are 1.5, 3, 4 and 5 litre. "We have installed the machinery to pack wines in boxes. Box wines save 20-25 per cent of our packaging cost and are also easy to handle. We hope to sell these products in the market in the next couple of months," Vinsura Vineyards chairman Pralhad Khadangale told Hindustan Times.

Conventional wine bottles cost around Rs 30 while wineries would be procurring these bag-in-boxes for around Rs 20. Khadangale said that the box wine would basically targeted at restaurants which sell wine by glasses and individuals who do not plan to drink a bottle in one go. Conventionally bottled wines have an extremely low shelf life after they are opened and exposed to air which leads to oxidation.

"The chief advantage to box wine is that it prevents oxidation of the wine as it is dispensed. Whereas wine in a bottle is oxidised by the volume of air in the bottle which has displaced the wine already poured, wine in a bag is never touched by air and thus never subject to oxidation until it is put in a glass," Vitop's representative Patrick Shea said. Italy based Vitop would supply the bag-in-box machinery to both the wineries.

"It is a great solution for packaging less expensive wines. This packaging allows the customer to keep a wine for a longer time even after the pack has been opened. These are some of the initiatives which will help in increasing wine penetration in the country," Sula Vineyards CEO Rajeev Samant said.

Industry watchers say that even though these boxes may not have the classy look of conventional wine bottles, this concept would help in increasing wine penetration. Indian market for wine is presently pegged at nine million litres and is growing at a rate of 35 per cent.

Bag-in-box wines to enter the Indian market : HindustanTimes.com

technorati tags: box, boxed, wine, bag-in-box, India

South Africa May Ban Un-Boxed Wine

Apparently in South Africa, wine is sold in the bag without the box. It's call a papsak, and the government is moving to ban the packaging. The reasoning is that it contributes to alcohol abuse. The poor reportedly find the bag sans box easier to transport and store than the bag-in-box.

The Business Report (South Africa) reports that an industry association is calling for better policing and tighter regulations instead of banning bag-only packaging.

Wine player challenges calls for papsak ban
October 30, 2006
By Ronnie Morris

Cape Town - Government plans to ban the sale of the papsak, the five-litre foil container of low-end wine, could cost the wine industry millions of rands, lead to job losses and even end up in court, an industry player has warned.

The foil container, colloquially known as the Bonteheuwel briefcase because of its popularity with the poor, retails for between R28 and R40. Bonteheuwel is a working class suburb on the Cape Flats.

Papsak wine is blamed for increased alcohol abuse and for being a major cause of foetal alcohol syndrome. The foil bag is known for its versatility and after its contents have been drunk, it is used as a water container, a cushion and a flotation device.

Boet le Hanie, the chairman of the Standard Price Wine Association, said the organisation's 15 members distributed 12 million litres of affordable papsak wine every year. Instead of banning the papsak, there should be better policing and tighter regulations to eliminate the fly-by-night distributors of inferior quality wine.

The problem of alcohol abuse would not be solved by putting the foil container in a box and if distributors were forced to sell the bags in cardboard boxes, jobs would be lost, he said.

Le Hanie warned that "if this [the ban] is done unilaterally without input from us, we will have to test this in court".

Henry Hopkins, a respected wine writer, said wine-in-a-box was patented in Australia and brought to South Africa in the early 1980s.

Cheaper wine of dubious quality was later sold in the foil bag as consumers in poorer areas, particularly the rural areas, struggled to either carry the five-litre box of wine or transport it on a bicycle and solved the problem by tearing the box apart.

Wine maker Danie de Wet, the chairman of wine and brandy producer KWV, said the real problem was to educate people that alcohol, if abused, could be dangerous.

The foil bag was hygienic, convenient and handy for consumers, did not break and could be fitted into a refrigerator or transported far more easily than wine in a box, he said.

Henk Bruwer, the chairman of Wine Cellars SA, said the foil bag was problematic and created a negative image of the wine industry and the added costs of putting it in a box would not affect the lower end of the market.

Sharron Marco-Thyse of the SA Wine Industry Council said: "We have to be realistic about this. This [the ban] is not going to reduce alcohol abuse or deal with the legacy that the industry has around how the product is being consumed.

"However we are also saying that the industry has a responsibility towards its consumers and towards communities that are at risk."

Kader Asmal, the chairman of the SA Wine Industry Council, said the organisation proposed the bag-in-the-box packaging or high quality plastic bottles.

Business Report - Wine player challenges calls for papsak ban

technorati tags: box, boxed, cask, wine, bag-in-box, papsak, South Africa

More From Canada On LCBO and Boxed Wine

On 10/4 I looked at reporting from the Toronto Star on recycling of Tetra Paks. Now, from London, Ontario, more on the Tetra Pak controversy:

London Free Press

Wine boxes a mixed bag
Sat, October 28, 2006
By BILL MUNNELLY, FREELANCE WRITER

Now that we've seen boxed wines for a while -- Tetra Paks -- it's time to start evaluating them. My understanding of why box wine was a good idea was that it allowed wineries to sell wine more cheaply, especially in two- and four-litre sizes. In Australia and Scandinavian countries, thousands switched to drinking wine because the box variety became affordable.

The LCBOs introduction of box wines from around the globe has nothing to do with savings. All Tetras are one litre and all cost $12.95. These boxes are about fulfilling corporate aims on the environment. (Those who know more than me about environmental issues say the board is feeding us a lot of B.S.).

So why won't the LCBO let us have big boxes at price savings? Why not ask them? I suspect that offering customers cheap wine might interfere with year-end profits. While they are very public with their commitment to the environment, they are not as public about their commitment to increased profits each year.

But what about the box itself? It's easy to open, but I get that convenience now with a screwcap. I really dislike the wobbly feel of the carton and it tips easily. Also, I miss the cold-to-the-touch feeling with bottles of white wine. I guess I'm not a fan.

Now the good news. Here's a really good red in a box. Most of you are familiar with a pair of great-value Spanish reds from a company called Osborne. Their Tetra, called 'Ducal,' is another delicious wine. It's heartwarming and charming and tastes like a $50 wine at a steak house -- especially if you put it in a decanter.

OSBORNE 2004 Merlot- Tempranillo, Ducal, Spain
LCBO No. 11767 Price:1Lt Tetra $12.95

London Free Press - Food - Wine boxes a mixed bag

It appears that many in Canada believe the LCBO is pulling the wool over their eyes regarding Tetra Paks, the environment, and the real reasons for the LCBO pushing Tetras.

Technorati tags: box, boxed, wine, Tetra Pak, TetraPak, LCBO

Recycle of Tetrapak Packaging

There has been a great deal of buzz in the Canadian press recently regarding the efforts of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario to push Tetrapak wines. The LCBO has often cited environmental advantages, recycling in particular, stating that if you buy Tetra, "you're doing your part to help the environment".

Environmentalists disagree. The picture is complex. I realize that any box, whether bag-in-box or Tetra, is more efficient and economical to ship, warehouse, and shelve at the store. And all the component materials in Tetrapak are individually recyclable (paper, plastic, and aluminum). The problem seems to be in separating them out. From the Toronto Star:

The mass conversion by the LCBO from bottles to Tetra Pak wine is hitting high gear. The idea is that this is environmentally friendly. In fact, these complex cartons are the toughest thing in your Blue Box to recycle and one of the most expensive to process.

....

Tetra Paks have three main ingredients: paperboard, polyethylene plastic, aluminum foil. To break them down, you need a pulp mill, which soaks them in water, then shreds them. The plastic and aluminum is deposited as a sludge. Little of the paper actually gets recycled, but what does goes into such things as toilet paper. The used Tetras that are recycled make it to Michigan, where there are two plants to process them. But top environmentalists believe most Tetras are still winding up as garbage in Michigan landfill.

TheStar.com - LCBO thinking inside the box

Reporter Gordon Stimmell points out that, while bottles are much more easily recycled, they present their own problem. Different colored bottles deposited into recycling bins are too often broken and mixed, making them unsuitable for many uses. Bottle deposits would reduce this problem greatly, but the LCBO has "resisted fiercly" a bottle deposit program.

Clearly bag-in-box packaging doesn't present the same difficulties in separating materials.

Packaging Misconception - Tetrapak Is Not Bag-in-Box

Recently an article on KTVU.com propagated a new misconception about Tetrapak ("juice box) wine. The article was brought to my attention in a great post about boxed wine by Mike in the Days That End In Y blog. In Wine: To Box Or Not To Box? Lisa Morrison writes about a "new twist on the wine bottle":

Now, the box has grown soft. More wineries are putting their products in soft-sided boxes that can easily be tucked into a crowded refrigerators or pantry shelves. And, the containers are growing smaller. Several vintners are choosing to "bottle" their wines in "bullets," 250-ml., soft-sided boxes that look a lot like long, narrow juice boxes -- without the attached straw, of course.

KTVU.com - Food - Wine: To Box Or Not To Box?

Well, that much is true, but then the understanding of the packaging becomes fuzzy.

Wine in a box, soft-sided or not, is really wine inside a plastic bladder (thank goodness they don't call them "bladder wines"). An attached tap lets the wine out but doesn't let in air -- wine's nemesis, because oxygen causes wine to go south. The technology means boxed wines last more than a month after opening compared to mere days for wine in a bottle -- a plus for people who enjoy just the occasional glass. Wine retailers say boxes stack up well to bottles since they're recyclable, easier to carry and store and cheaper to produce.

KTVU.com - Food - Wine: To Box Or Not To Box?

The error here is that the "soft-sided" box mentioned here refers to Tetrapak packaging. Tetrapak does NOT contain wine inside a plastic bladder. Tetrapak does not have an attached tap that "lets the wine out but doesn't let in air". Unfortunately, the article gives the completely false impression that this "soft-sided" box offers the same after-opening shelf life advantages as true bag-in-box packaging.

The suggestion that the "recyclable" claim extends to Tetrapak is questionable as well. While it is recyclable in a strict sense, how practical is Tetrapak recycling in the real world? This is an issue that has gotten much discussion in Ontario lately. But I will address that in another post.

technorati tags: packaging, Tetrapak, bag-in-box, boxed+wine, box+wine

Bag-in-Box and Logistics In the World of Wine

Britain's just-drinks.com looks at the logistics industry and the wine industry.

Like the market around it, the wine industry’s supply chain is evolving rapidly. David Skalli of the Paris and London-based Skalli & Rein Consulting Firm talks to just-drinks about the changes and the pressures they are bringing to bear on everyone from logistics companies to wine producers.

Just the Answer – David Skalli : Beverage News & Comment

And what role does alternative packaging play in the supply chain picture? Mr. Skalli says:

Wineries have to start thinking about the whole supply chain from the vineyard to the consumer. They have to use labels that will support high humidity and corks that won’t become dry in high temperatures during freight forwarding. Bag-in-box, screwcap and synthetic corks are sometimes a way for wineries to reduce that kind of risk. At the end of the day, customers buy a branded wine with a certificate of guarantee linked to it. If your wine is tainted it’s the winery that you’ll blame.

Just the Answer – David Skalli : Beverage News & Comment

I'm particularly interested in what Skalli had to say about what this all means for the small independent winery, and the strategies by which such an operation can remain viable in today's marketplace.

technorati tags: bag-in-box, boxed+wine, box+wine

Time Magazine Discovers the Box!

This week's edition of Time Magazine includes an article about alternative wine packaging. In Look, Ma, No Cork! Sharon Kapnick considers alternatives to corked bottles, including screw caps, cans, and juice boxes, and has this to say about bag-in-box:

Bag-in-the-box containers can keep wines fresh for four to six weeks after they're opened, thanks to the vacuum-sealed bag inside that collapses as the wine is consumed, making it difficult for oxygen to get in and spoil what's left. Although box wines often come in 3-L sizes, equivalent to four bottles of wine, more convenient 1.5-L boxes are becoming available.

TIME.com: Look, Ma, No Cork! -- Oct. 2, 2006 -- Page 1

The article concedes that bag-in-box has a certain advantage over the "juice box":

Juice box--style cartons don't offer that extra shelf life once opened, but they are more eco-friendly than bottles.

Thanks Sharon Kapnick and Time Magazine

technorati tags: bag-in-box, boxed+wine, box+wine, bag+in+box

Bag in a Box - An Australian Icon

Boxed wine has made the the annual list of South Australia "heritage icons". Since 2001 the National Trust of South Australia has annually recognized a list of items which have made a significant contribution to the State's cultural identity. The 2006 BankSA Heritage Icons List

includes "Bag in a Box" wine cask packaging along with eight other items that have made a significant contribution to South Australia's cultural identity.

The National Trust has placed "Chateau Cardboard" on a pedestal along with other such cultural icons as Bickford's Lime Juice Cordial and the Victor Harbor Horse-Drawn Tram.

So, why is the humble wine cask a part of South Australian heritage? It is yet another example of local innovation, continuous improvement and highly successful commercialisation. ... Fortunately for the wine makers who continue to provide the value-for-money product, and the millions of consumers who appreciate that and the convenience of the cask, the bag-in-a-box is still a ubiquitous symbol of Australian egalitarianism. It’s also a standard bearer for South Australian inventiveness and deserves recognition by being placed on a pedestal and in the spotlight as a BankSA Heritage Icon.

2006 Bank SA Heritage Icons List

The article credits Angrove winemakers with invention of the "wine cask," introducing it to the public in 1965. Angrove is reported to be the first winemaker to put wine into bag-in-box packaging. However Scholle's invention of bag-in-box packaging for battery acid in 1955 most certainly predates Angrove's invention. (Please, no snide remarks involving the words "wine" and "battery acid" in the same sentence).

Whoever may be credited with the invention of bag-in-box packaging, Australia has most certainly brought it into the wine mainstream, and introduced to the world the concept of premium wine in a box. Chateau Cardboard - it's not just for "plonk" anymore.

technorati tags:boxed wine, box wine, bag-in-box, Scholle, Angrove Wine