What will carbon footprint labelling mean for the Australian wine industry? Will it effect exports when a New Yorker realises that it is “more green” for them to drink wine from Bordeaux, instead of the Margaret River, Barossa or Riverland regions?
Dr Vino (Tyler Colman) has covered this area extensively in his blog about all things wine, with a post from October 30 last year on calculating the cost of the carbon footprint of wine quoting from an American Association of Wine Economists working paper he co-wrote with sustainability metrics specialist Pablo Paster.
Among its other findings, the working paper highlights that it is more green for a wine consumer from Chicago to drink wine from France, than from Napa or New South Wales.
Carbon footprint labelling was discussed at the recent 2008 London International Wine Fair, with international retail giants Tesco and Wal-Mart indicating that including carbon footprint information on wine pacakges is of increasing importance.
Director of Natural Resources for the Winemakers Federation of Australia Amy Russell has consequently said the Australian wine industry could lose market share to its competitors if it doesn’t step up to the environmental challenge.
Ms Russell will be giving advice to winegrape growers and winemakers at the Some Like It Hot conference in the Riverland on November 6. Some Like It Hot is convened by the Riverland Wine Industry Development Council and is the wine industry’s premier conference for warm climate wine regions.
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