Boisset Family Estates, a family-owned Burgundy-based wine company that also owns DeLoach Vineyards in California’s Russian River Valley, has been a leading pioneer for innovative new wine packaging that reduces wine’s impact on the environment. Boisset has for many years been engaged in improving it’s overall environmental philosophy, beginning to convert its estate vineyards to organic and biodynamic farming as far back as 1994. With that process now complete at all of its estate vineyards, Jean-Charles Boisset knew that more could be done.

”We speak often of a Boisset 70% rule in the wine business. There are 2.6 billion cases of wine produced and shipped around the world each year, of which 70% (or more) retail for less than $12, and 70% (or more) are consumed immediately! Further, 70% of the cost of any bottle of wine, at least, is not for the wine itself! It’s the packaging, the freight, the corks, capsules, bottles, labels, cartons, on and on. We thought we could transform the wine world, improve the experience for the consumer by increasing value and convenience, and reduce our carbon footprint simultaneously,” says Jean-Charles Boisset, President of Boisset Family Estates.

With that, Boisset launched French rabbit, the first premium imported wine in a Tetra Pak container. It reduces the carbon footprint of a bottle of wine by 90%! Just 4% packaging by weight (compared to 50-60% for a standard bottle), the recyclable carton immediately caused a stir and has been a very successful brand in more than a dozen countries worldwide.

Since then, Boisset has launched wine in PET plastic bottles from Louis Bernard – the first AOC wine in a plastic bottle – and for all of its 2008 Beaujolais Nouveau. Mommessin also launched the very first Beaujolais in an aluminum bottle featuring a “chill me” dot that turns blue when the wine is properly chilled, educating consumers on the ideal consumption moment. Never one to rest, Boisset is now preparing to launch a 1L PET bottle from California called Fog Mountain, with more innovations on the way.

Written by Patrick Egan, Boisset America.

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