Back in June of this year, Waitrose (Decanter’s Supermarket of the Year 2009) began to stock a new range of wines from Chile. The wine was shipped in 24,000 litre flexitanks and bottled in the UK, saving 32,000 bottles - or 16 tons of glass - that no longer needed to be shipped. As a result, there was a reduction in carbon emissions, shipping, distribution and production costs.

A green innovation that saves money for retailers and consumers is a win win. We have several lines of our own that use the same distribution method, helping us to retail good quality wine at low prices. The Paarl Heights and Sierra Grande range are good examples.

The winemakers firstly ensure that they are buying quality grapes at a good price, and they instruct the farmers on the methods required to grow the best fruit. The wines are made in their native country, shipped on lees, allowing the ageing time required, before being stabilised and bottled in Europe (France in the case of the above). So the wine has travelled half way around the world without the excess weight of their packaging.

The Last Stand is another good example. In the likes of Chile there is more control required by the winemaker in the vineyard, but in Australia it’s a buying process for inexpensive wines. These grapes are actually selected by buyers at Tim Burvill’s Rockbare winery, who make more expensive and superior drops in comparison, but help to produce a fabulous budget wine that may have been set at a slightly higher price had they been imported all the way from OZ in bottle.

For higher priced wine, the saving obviously won’t make as much of a difference on the retail price, and the process as a whole is not going to stop global warming by itself, but it is a step in the right direction and if it helps keep the price vs quality ratio favourable, then who’s complaining?