Is Wine’s Future in a Can?

From organic to biodynamic products, sustainable wine is booming. Yet there’s still an elephant in the room: the glass bottle. Most of wine’s carbon footprint comes from the production and transport of its quintessential packaging. Glass bottles — due to their high manufacturing temperatures and shipping weight — make up 42 percent of wine’s carbon footprint. 

Since wine buyers prefer glass, some wineries are sticking to a glass-forward approach by using lighter-weight or recycled glass bottles, refilling bottles, or revamping the glass manufacturing process. Others are breaking free from glass completely. Instead, they’re trying aluminum bottles and cans, kegs, bag-in-box packaging, and even paperboard and flax bottles.

This new packaging has many benefits, including substantially reduced carbon footprints compared to glass bottles. Wine in bag-in-box packaging has a 48 percent lower carbon footprint than those in standard 500-gram glass bottles. As a result, alternative packaging is gaining traction and potentially drawing in new consumers. Is the long-cherished glass bottle’s future half-full or half-empty?

Going with rosé tinted glasses

Glass remains king for several reasons. It can be recycled infinitely without losing quality and it’s favored for alcohol because it doesn’t affect the flavor. Plus, a well-established infrastructure of bottling equipment and expertise already exists, said Christian Miller, the proprietor of the consultancy Full Glass Research and research director for the Wine Market Council. 

“Wine producers are distinctly aware of global warming, like most farmers, and many are investing in improved sustainability across a variety of fronts,” Miller said in an email to TriplePundit. “Some big ones are already nudging consumers in the direction of lightweight glass but would act swifter if they were confident consumers and trade buyers would reward them.”

Nonetheless, some wine growers are forging ahead, like the Bodega Catena Zapata winery. The Argentine operation reduced its overall bottle weight by more than 40 percent from 2008 to 2023. And, lightening up has benefits. Switching its hefty Vista Flores Malbec bottles for a 380-gram version reduced the wine’s carbon emissions by 21 percent before shipping. Plus, lightweight bottles can be cheaper than their heavier counterparts.

While this is a big step in the right direction, even these slimmed-down glass bottles can have a higher carbon footprint than other alternative packaging.

Beyond the bottle

Some adventurous wineries are trashing the glass altogether. Sipwell Wine Co. — producing predominantly sparkling wine sourced from organic or certified sustainable grapes — made the pivot from day one.

“Cans seemed to just make a lot of sense,” said Hilary Cocalis, founder and CEO of Sipwell Wine Co. “So I went down that path, and this business was always, ‘Let's put a great quality wine in a can.’” 

While untraditional, cans can be advantageous for wine. 

“From a winemaking standpoint and a wine quality standpoint, cans are actually pretty beneficial,” Cocalis said. “You don't have any risk of light strike or light damage to the wine that you would in a glass bottle. And then there's lower risk of oxidation as well.”

Plus, there are a number of perks for the wine drinkers themselves.

“Cans are marketed in part because it's a smaller amount,” Miller said. “So you get a portion control aspect. You've got a portability aspect because it's smaller and lighter. You've got a cost of trial aspect — you can try something new without spending money on a whole bottle.”

While many consumers buy canned wine for portability, especially at outdoor events, they also do so to avoid opening a whole bottle, Cocalis said.

Other packaging types fill a different niche. Three- to five-liter boxes of wine might be bought by people hosting a party or those trying to save money,  Miller said.

Alternative packaging isn’t meant for aging wine, though. Sipwell recommends drinking its canned wine within two years. 

The last reason to ditch glass is a big one — sustainability.

“From just a supply chain and carbon footprint standpoint, cans are unmatched when it comes to bottles,” Cocalis said. “Our cans have a 45 percent lower carbon footprint than wine in bottles.”

Other packaging also has a smaller environmental impact. A life cycle assessment found that bag-in-box or aseptic cartons — cartons made from multiple layers that store food or drinks — were the most sustainable wine packaging compared to glass or plastic bottles. That’s due to their lighter weight, composition, and how efficiently they could be arranged and stacked onto pallets. 

Challenges with going green

Despite these benefits, wine in alternative wrapping is facing some headwinds.

“I would say a big education hurdle for us is showing people that they can look at canned wine on the same level as bottled wine,” Cocalis said. “Especially in wine, there is still a consumer perception that they prefer bottles … Canned wine has had a bad reputation because, honestly, the majority of wine that has been put in cans has not been good quality. So, people perceive the package as poor quality because the wine has been poor quality — and we're trying to change that.”

Unfortunately, cans aren’t the only packaging plagued with this type of problem.

“There is prejudice against cans, boxes, and tetrapaks from a quality perception perspective. They are associated with less expensive or less impressive wines,” Miller said. “This is true of consumers and maybe even more true of the trade and producers.”

One exception is Tablas Creek Vineyard, which released high-end rosé wine in bag-in-box packaging. The launch of 300 boxes sold out in four hours. Since then, it has expanded its boxed repertoire, releasing a grenache and a red and white blend.

Regardless of that rosy picture of success, many consumers remain unaware of one of the main reasons for bottle-free wine: the strong links with sustainability. 

“We do have some evidence that a lot of consumers, and even some of the trade, don't really think about transport costs and weight as part of the environmental footprint [of wine],” Miller said. Instead, they may focus on factors like organically or sustainably produced grapes or renewable energy in the winery. 

From an industry standpoint, the hundreds of years of tradition in wine plays an important role in decisions and any potential change, Cocalis said. And retailers have a critical part to play in new packaging, too.

“A big factor in pushing this forward is really going to be at the retail level,” Cocalis said. “I think the wineries want to be more sustainable. I think the consumers want it to be more sustainable. I think we need to rely on retailers to make a commitment to that, to choose to put the sustainable options on shelves, to choose to put the sustainable options on their wine menus in restaurants.”

Part of a packaging’s sustainability also depends on how much we recycle them, Miller said. Americans only recycle around 31 percent of glass containers and 43 percent of aluminum cans. And some amount of plastic is found in aseptic cartons, bag-in-box packaging and paperboard bottles, which can be difficult to recycle.

Wine reimagined 

Hurdles aside, the market for sustainable wine is surging, with consumers willing to pay more for it. Not everyone balks at untraditional packaging. Perhaps those markets can pave the way for change.

“There's been so much tradition ingrained in the bottle with the cork,” Cocalis said. “This was a huge thing when screw cap wines were introduced, of having to convince people that that is fine. Alternative packages are the next step in that, and I think people will get there, especially as younger people start becoming wine consumers more and more.”