One of the premium wine brands of Australian-based liquor manufacturer and exporter Fosters Group Ltd. is now available in a standard-sized, 750-milliliter PET wine bottle that the firm claims has significant environmental advantages.
Melbourne-based FGL said its Wolf Blass wines, produced in South Australia, have been expanded to include bottlings under the “Green Label” banner.
Unlike other winemakers that have embraced smaller, single-serve PET wine bottles, FGL's new range includes the standard, full-size 1.4-pint bottle. The company said the PET bottles, when empty, are about one-tenth the 18-ounce weight of a comparable standard glass bottle.
FGL claims the new bottles are shatterproof and have been subjected to a “full life-cycle analysis” by Melbourne-based environmental consultant Net Balance Management Group Pty. Ltd.
Net Balance analyzed potential greenhouse-gas emissions from all stages of the winemaking process, from grape growing to bottling, transport, and recycling and disposal of bottles and cardboard stock cartons.
The results showed the Green Label bottles are 36 percent lighter, 100 percent recyclable and create 29 percent fewer greenhouse-gas emissions, FGL said.
PET's chemical inertness, along with other physical properties, have no impact on the taste or quality of the wine, the firm said. However, the Green Label packaging is not recommended for traditional cellaring and consumers are advised to drink the wine within 12 months, according to FGL.
The screw-top bottles will contain a cabernet-shiraz blend and a crisp, dry white.
Contact Fosters at tel. 61-3-9633-2000.
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