By Sarah Richmond, Clif Family Director of Operations It’s no secret that new trends and technology are helping wineries change the way people engage with their brands, including packaging. Many consumers say they are willing to pay more for wines that are made using sustainable wine packaging because they see it as an investment into a better future. At Clif Family Winery, we are committed to sustainability in all aspects of our operations. From packaging to production, we are rethinking traditional practices to reduce our carbon footprint and create a positive impact on the environment.
Clif Family’s Commitment to Sustainability
At Clif Family, sustaining our planet is one of our five core business aspirations. As an environmental steward overseeing our food, wine, and packaging production, reducing our carbon footprint is as important to me as ensuring our operations are running smoothly.
Partnering with Packaging Suppliers for Change
Working directly with our packaging suppliers and vendors, I often find myself engaged in ongoing conversations about waste reduction and sustainable wine packaging opportunities that are not only better for our planet but also offer cost savings to our business and ultimately, our customers. Many of these opportunities require us to reexamine the way we’ve done packaging in the past, including rethinking the “quality myth” of heavy-weighted wine bottles, opting out of decorative foils and removing our beloved metal bike cogs on our Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon wines. This also includes transitioning from screw cap to cork closures on all of our wines because they offer a more sustainable option.
The Environmental Impact of Glass Wine Bottles
Nearly half the weight of a case of wine comes from the bottles rather than the wine itself making glass close to 40 percent of the carbon footprint of a bottle of wine. And this means that when customers are paying to have wine shipped to their home or business, much of what they are paying for is attributed to the weight of the glass. Add in shipping and that increases CO2 emissions by up to 68 percent per bottle due to in-transit emissions. This is why we’ve transitioned to lighter-weight wine bottles to reduce our carbon footprint and reduce shipping costs for our customers. Let’s take a deeper look at our Howell Mountain wines such as our Cima, Croquet, and Cold Springs Cabernet Sauvignon wines. By transitioning to a lighter-weight mold and removing the neck foil and metal bike cog, we can reduce bottle weight by 31%. This reduction in weight translates to a direct reduction in shipping costs for our customers. Suppose that a case of our 2021 Cima Cabernet wine with our traditional heavy bottle and metal bike cog applique, shipped to Virginia via FedEx Ground costs $47.19. Starting in 2024, this case will only cost $39.04 to ship to Virginia, an $8.15 savings simply from reducing bottle weight from 1.39lbs to .95lbs.
Why We Switched Our Cork Closures
We also transitioned our screw cap wines to a cork-finished bottle for several reasons. First, it allows us to reduce our mold portfolio from 11 to 8 bottles, which will help in reducing leftover glass inventory and storage. Additionally, research shows us that cork outperforms aluminum and plastic stoppers environmentally by its natural ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and aid in the support of pollution control. 
Improved Cork Technology
With improved technology, TCA detected in corks has become less of an issue for winemakers over the years as cork manufacturers have implemented computer-aided TCA-detection processes that inspect corks on a molecular level to ensure purity during production. This means most corks with TCA taint never leave the manufacturer’s floor or have a chance to make it into your cellar.
Eliminating Tin Neck Foils for More Efficient Recycling
The absence of decorative tin foil on the neck of the bottle eliminates an additional step in the recycling chain, making the entire process more efficient. Without this extra layer, the bottle becomes easier to clean and sort, ensuring a smoother transition into the recycling stream. This small yet impactful change contributes to reducing the overall environmental impact of wine packaging, aligning with sustainable practices and waste reduction goals.
Ongoing Commitment to Sustainability
Amidst our enthusiasm for new opportunities to re-think our production choices from packaging to logistics to our winemaking, we are also aware that our learning is ongoing and as often as we think we’re getting it right, new opportunities to improve arise. We are a work in progress, as people and as an organization, but we are committed to working for a better tomorrow, today. Thank you for noticing and for the ongoing support to do better. SHOP OUR LATEST SUSTAINABLE WINE BOTTLINGS 
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