Giving new meaning to the old saying “flat as a lizard that drinks”, the first “flat” wine bottles have appeared on the Australian market.
The partnership between UK-based packaging company Packamama and winemakers Accolade Wines and Taylors Wines, the so-called eco-bottle, aims to reduce the environmental impact of the local wine industry.
Camera IconThe new flat wine bottles. Credit: Included
The shape of the bottle, which has the silhouette of a traditional Bordeaux wine bottle until turned on its side, allows twice as many bottles to fit in a standard wine box.
The eco-bottles are made entirely from 100 percent recycled PET plastic from Australia.
Manufacturers claim the bottle is 83 percent lighter and 32 percent space-saving, reducing transportation emissions.
If both Accolade and Taylors switched completely to eco-bottles, it would save 250,000km of road freight per year or the equivalent of a semi-trailer traveling 50 times from Melbourne to Broome.
Excluding the bottle cap, an empty eco bottle is fully recyclable.
Other benefits cited include the convenience of the lighter bottle, which can be taken to events where glass is banned, such as music festivals.
The first wines to go into the new bottles are Banrock Station’s pinot grigio and pinot noir, as well as Taylor’s One Small Step chardonnay and shiraz.
All four drops are on sale nationwide for $16 a bottle from Liquorland and First Choice Liquor Market stores, which are part of the Coles Group.
The eco-flat range is also currently served on Virgin Australia flights.
Camera icon The bottles are made entirely from recycled PET plastic from Australia. Credit: Delivered
While more premium wines will be sold in traditional round wine bottles, Pachamama founder Santiago Navarro pointed to the fact that Australia invented cask wine and helped develop the screw cap (or Stelvin) for wines as signs of why Australian drinkers will embrace the latest innovation in plonk. Packaging.
Coles Liquor spokesperson Mia Lloyd added that winemakers and customers are eager to reduce their regular drink’s environmental impact.
She said the new eco bottle “significantly reduces the environmental footprint of wine for customers daily”.
“The lightweight and flatter eco bottles also provide our customers with a convenient new option when packing for that camping or caravanning holiday,” added Ms . Lloyd.
Accolade Wines launched the eco-flat bottle in Europe two years ago.
Accolade Global Chief Marketing Officer Sandy Mayo said the latest packaging innovation followed wine in cans, wine on tap, “bignums,” and various on-premises designs in hopes of helping the wine industry think outside the glass bottle.
Third-generation winemaker and Taylors director Mitchell Taylor said Aussie wine fans are open to innovation “when it offers real benefits.”
“Australia led the global change from cork to screw cap, and Taylors were the first major producer to bottle all of our wines (in screw caps),” he said.
“We believe Australians will again lead the way in adopting the most sustainable bottle.”
