A LIGHT AND AIRY CHAMPAGNE . . . BOTTLE!

Champagne is typically thought of as light and bubbly. The bottles, however, tend to be quite bulky and heavy. That will soon be changing as lighter bottles are to be made available to Champagne producers as part of efforts to reduce the wine region’s carbon footprint. According to the Champagne trade body, the Comité Interprofessionnel des Vins de Champagne (CIVC), the new bottles weigh 835g, 65g lighter than their current counterparts. If taken up by the vast majority of producers, the new bottle will cut Champagne industry carbon dioxide emissions by 8OOO tons, equivalent to that of 4OOO cars, the CIVC said. The move is part of the organization’s strategy to cut carbon emissions by 25% from 2OO3 levels by 2O2O, and by 75% by 2O5O. Lighter bottles will shave 1% off the industry’s total emissions, the body said at a briefing in London. The CIVC will not force producers to use the lighter bottle, however which could hold up the process. Things tend to move a bit slower in France’s wine industry.