Paper Bottle Pioneers celebrate sale of 50,000th bottle

Cantina Goccia, an award-winning boutique Umbrian winery that was the world’s first drinks producer to bottle its wine in a paper bottle, is marking Earth Day with a significant milestone – the sale of its 50,000^th paper bottle.

Cantina Goccia’s paper bottle wines are now found in many EU countries and this year, they launched 3Q in Japan and Canada.

From this month their paper bottles will be on sale in The Netherlands and Switzerland.

As the paper bottle has a carbon footprint 84% lower than a glass bottle, Cantina Goccia’s 50,000 bottles have managed to save 23 metric tonnes of carbon.

That’s the equivalent of saving enough energy to drive 57,000 miles – nearly one and a half times around the world, providing all energy to three homes for a year and offsetting carbon from five cars for a year or charging three million smartphones and the same amount of carbon taken out of the air by nearly 30 acres of forest.

With a single glass wine bottle responsible for nearly half the carbon footprint of wine, Cantina Goccia owners Ceri Parke and Steve Barber wanted to find a solution to reducing the environmental impact of their wine production even further.

Already passionate about working in harmony with nature having instilled many sustainable measures throughout the vineyard and winery over the last 20 years, they set about searching for an innovative solution to bring their packaging into line with their ethos.

Their search led them to Frugalpac, the British sustainable packaging manufacturers of the Frugal Bottle – the world’s first commercially available paper bottle for wine. With a carbon footprint nearly six times lower than a glass bottle and made from 94% recycled paperboard with a food grade pouch, it weighs just 83g before it’s filled – making it almost five times lighter than a normal glass bottle.

Impressed by the bottle’s eco credentials and after working in close collaboration with Frugalpac prior to the launch, Cantina Goccia released its red wine ‘3Q’ – an unwooded Sangiovese blended with Merlot and Cabernet – in the Frugal Bottle in summer 2020.

Sparking huge interest, the wine’s launch secured headlines globally and led to one chain, Woodwinters in Scotland, selling its whole stock in just one day. The feedback from industry and consumers continued to be so overwhelmingly positive that it prompted Cantina Goccia to commit to transitioning 80% of its wine production to paper bottles.

Cantina Goccia co-owner Ceri Parke says: “We are proud to have made history as the first winemakers to have launched their wine in a paper bottle. Finding an alternative to glass that would preserve the integrity of our wines, while delivering significant carbon savings was a challenge but one that was crucial for us to overcome. The Frugal Bottle fulfilled both those criteria in the shape of a beautiful, tactile Bordeaux bottle.

“Now we are keen to share what we have learnt nearly two years on and are working with other UK drinks brands helping them join the paper bottle revolution.

“The need for drinks producers to act now and make the switch to more sustainable packaging is urgent. And for consumers who enjoy the feel of a heavier glass bottle, we want to change the perception that great wine can’t come in alternative packaging – it can and for the sake of our planet, it must.”

Frugalpac CEO Malcolm Waugh, comments: “We were delighted to partner with Cantina Goccia to bring the first Frugal Bottles to market in the UK. It’s fantastic to see their growing global success as Cantina Goccia launch their paper bottle wines into other new countries for the first time.

“At Frugalpac, our mission is to decarbonise the drinks industry by delivering innovative packaging solutions that help our customers and their customers to reduce their environmental impact. We believe we can do that and help to save the planet one paper bottle at a time.”

In January this year, Cantina Goccia launched its second paper bottle wine in the UK – a white called ‘Celi’. An Etruscan name meaning ‘the month of September’ when the wine is harvested – Celi is a blend of 60% Grechetto, 20% Vermentino and 20% Chardonnay grapes. This combination creates an invigorating white wine characteristic of Umbria. The minerality of Vermentino, light elegance of Chardonnay and floral, fruity notes of Grechetto make Celi a superb accompaniment for summer entertaining. It is available from Woodwinters

The Frugal Bottle is almost five times lighter than a normal glass bottle – making it easier to carry and lighter to transport, further helping to reduce the carbon footprint of the drinks industry. It’s easy and inexpensive to recycle again by separating the plastic food-grade pouch from the paper bottle and placing them in respective recycling bins.

The water footprint of the bottle is at least four times lower than a glass bottle, too.

Cantina Goccia’s paper bottle wines 3Q and Celi are available from www.woodwinters.com

For more information go to www.frugalpac.com ww w .cantinagoccia.com