Earlier this month Constellation Wines announced it would be installing the world's largest winery solar installation at its Gonzales Winery in Monterey, California. Constellation Wines estimates that this move will reduce the annual carbon footprint by about 1.6 million pounds, which translates to the equivalent of planting 2,500 acres of trees, not driving an average automobile 25 million miles, or taking more than 2,000 cars off the road. Incredible!
ZDNet, today, highlighted the fact that Constellation Wines includes heavy hitters like Clos du Bois, Wild Horse and Mondavi, which happen to be three of the top purchased wines in the US. This foreshadows good news for the environment and the wine consumer!
If you would like to contribute to a reduction of the carbon footprint while still enjoy a nice glass of Chardonnay, consider checking out these wines:
Clos du Bois:
Clos du Bois Chardonnay 2007
Clos du Bois Alexander Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Clos du Bois Merlot 2004
Wild Horse:
Wild Horse Pinot Noir 2006
Wild Horse Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Wild Horse Viognier 2006
Robert Mondavi:
Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Chardonnay 2005
Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Cheers!
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4 comments:
Good topic. I'm interested to see how many more vineyards follow suit. Going solar saves money in the long run and what wine consumer wouldn't want to reduce their carbon footprint? Fight global warming with each toast!
Shelly @ Wine, do you think the vineyard is doing this to help the public image of their product? Or, is this really for economic reasons? I'm curious as to what your take is on it.
Hi Craig,
While this move definitely helps the public image, I do believe it is for economic/environmental reasons as well. We are seeing an increasing trend of vineyards switching over to more environmentally conscious practices - for example Fetzer Vineyards also recently announced they would convert to lightweight glass to reduce the amount of glass used in their wine bottles by 16%. Hopefully this is a trend we continue to see.
Thanks for the input. Does Wine.com have ratings or information on the environmental impact of wines we purchase? I'm wondering if this would impact consumer buying decisions. I know that some people pay attention to the environmental impact of the resins and foam in a surfboard when they buy a new board or wetsuit.
Patagonia did a big campaign around the environment when they first launched their wetsuit line. They positioned their wetsuit as being friendlier to the environment. I believe it did impact some buying decisions.
http://www.thecleanestline.com/2008/05/green-neoprene.html#more
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