As with all aspects of our business, we have gone to every effort to make the footprint of our packaging on the environment as positive as possible.
Label Paper
We import (via ship) our own label paper from Germany that is made entirely from post consumer waste recycled paper. This paper is real recycled paper in that it has come from a wide range of products that have been used by consumers and then been discarded. Paper commonly branded as recycled is often bleached virgin paper that is waste from industrial processes. Because of the way our paper is recycled every label is subtly different depending on the composition of the paper being recycled as it is being milled.
Glass
The wine bottles we use are the lowest carbon glass we can use without compromising wine quality. They are lighter and have a lower carbon footprint. Often consumers judge a wine by the weight of the bottle but remember it is what is the bottle that counts. Is there anything sadder than a crappy wine in a really heavy bottle?
Cardboard
The generic brown boxes we use are made from 100% recycled paper.
Inks
Our labels are printed with aqueous (and non-metallic) inks that don’t result in the leaching of heavy metals to ground water.
Bottle Closure
The decision relating to what closure to use is the hardest of all. It is likely true that the production of screw-caps is more energy intensive than cork production. Unfortunately this cannot be the only criteria. The problems we have had with cork over the years have been nothing less than monumental, including one vintage in which over 20% of wines were corked or oxidised due to cork failure. As a producer it is too costly deal with this problem and as a collector of wines it is just heartbreaking. Until a high quality, uniform, dependable natural alternative comes along we will reluctantly persist with the screw-cap