Mallard Point Vineyard and distillery have launched a new sustainable aluminium bottle. Their bottle is used for their semi-sparkling and still wines as well as their award winning gins. The bottle merges sustainability, practicality and durability by using aluminium, whilst still maintaining an elegant and striking design of a traditional bottle.
Not only are they the first UK wine producer to use an aluminium bottle, they are also the worlds first producer to get rid of the disposable cork or cap closures and replace it with a swing top. If this wasn’t enough they are also pioneering an innovative returns system where customers return the bottle to be cleaned and reused.
The reason that they chose aluminium is not only for it’s recycling properties but also due to it being significantly lighter to any glass bottle on the market, thus requiring less energy to transport and store. Aluminium’s unique thermal properties mean that it requires less energy to chill and once chilled it will stay cooler for longer. It is also very durable leading to less breakages making it perfect for picnics or festivals.
The swing top also plays a significant part. It negates the need for single use cork but also means that you can reseal the bottle, thus prolonging the life of your wine.
Their ethos of reuse means that all components of their packaging are designed to have multiple uses. Once a consumer has finished their wine or gin, the bottle goes back into the original packaging and is sent back to the vineyard free of charge to be cleaned and reused. This process significantly reduces the amount of waste the vineyard produces.
However there is still one dark cloud that looms over these pioneering producers. Current EU legislation does not allow them call their wine “English Sparkling”. Archaic legislation states that in order for a wine to use the term sparkling it has to be in a glass bottle. So regardless of all the sustainable benefits of aluminium, you can’t currently use if for a sparkling wine!
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