The Ultimate in Green Booze: French Returning to Shipping Wine by Sailboat

When French vineyards decided they wanted to reduce their carbon footprint, they thought backwards instead of forwards: they’re going back to a shipping method they last used in the 1800’s. Some vintners are choosing sailboats to transport their most eco-friendly wines.

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.

Frederic Albert, founder of the shipping company Compagnie de Transport Maritime à la Voile (CTMV), said: ‘My idea was to do something for the planet and something for the wines of Languedoc. One of my grandfathers was a wine-maker and one was a sailor.’

Smart move! Not only is it a great eco-friendly way to ship wine, it increases visibility of these vineyards because of the great story. What makes this even cooler is that ships will return to France bearing an equal tonnage of crushed glass for recycling into wine bottles. The vineyards have chosen their best, most sustainably produced wines for the sailboat voyage, because they want their eco-conscious consumers to get the full ‘green wine’ experience. Despite all this trouble, the wines will remain fairly cheap - €7 to €20 a bottle.

I’m a bit of a wino and a history dork, so the idea of my Beaujolais coming across the Atlantic on a romantic sailboat voyage makes me want to drink even more of it. Hey, we’ve got to make it worth their time and investment, right? A round of red for everyone!

Link [The Guardian]
Photo credit: Flickr user Kables

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