As Green as You Can Get: Shipping Wine With the Winds
February 25, 2008 · Print This Article
Here’s something that I hope I read more of: French wine makers are using a three mast sailing vessel to ship 60,000 bottles of wine from France to Dublin, Ireland.
Brilliant!
Using wind to ship things around the world is something we’ve been doing for a long, long time. When the steam engine, and then later diesel burners, came onto the scene, the winds were mostly left behind. There has recently been some hopeful movements back to using wind to ship cargo in the form of the super kite- a giant rig that connects to traditional bunker oil burning ships that can save 15-20% of the fuel otherwise needed.
Each bottle of greenly shipped wine will come with the label “‘Carried by sailing ship, a better deal for the planet.’” Here’s a quick bit from the Guardian:
Later this month 60,000 bottles from Languedoc will be shipped to Ireland in a 19th-century barque, saving 18,375lb of carbon. Further voyages to Bristol, Manchester and even Canada are planned soon afterwards.
The three-mast barque Belem, which was launched in 1896, the last French merchant sailing vessel to be built, will sail into Dublin following a voyage from Bordeaux that should last about four days. The wines will be delivered to Bordeaux by barge using the Canal du Midi and Canal du Garonne, which run across southern France from Sète in the east, via Béziers in Languedoc. Each bottle will be labelled: ‘Carried by sailing ship, a better deal for the planet.’ Although the whole process will end up taking up to a week longer than a flight, it is estimated it will save 4.9oz of carbon per bottle.
Link [Guardian] via Environmental Graffiti
Related Posts:
The Ultimate in Green Booze: French Returning to Shipping Wine by SailboatCorked Wine is Green After All, When the Cork is Sustainably Harvested
Fisherman Returning to Use of Sails as Fuel Costs Rise
Green News Roundup 3/17: Pollution a Sin, Wal-Mart’s Not Green (Duh), and Glaciers Are Melting Fast
Dipping into the EarthFirst.com Archives for Green Sex Toys, Wind Powered Win, Miniguns, and Stupid Americans
Ah, too bad it’s entirely impossible to get that to California…
And there’s not much open seas between the Napa Valley and the Sacramento Valley, that I’m aware of.
Still, that’s awesome.
Now if people would stop letting the grapes turn and wholly accept that the grapes, not the alcohol is the goodness.