‘What matters is the liquid!’ Catena Zapata’s campaign for lighter bottles

Even before the cork is pulled, the starred wines impress with the thickness and weight of their bottles – some weighing more than 1 kilo.

The wine will remain the same, but from now on, lovers of Mendoza’s best-known winery will have to get used to lighter bottles.

For the good of the environment, Catena Zapata decided to reduce the weight of its bottles – and other noble wine producers are already doing the same.

Bottles of High Mountain Vines Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, which currently weigh 700 grams, will be half a kilo – a reduction of 28%.

On average, according to the winery, its bottles weighed 416 grams. Some will now weigh 380 grams.

The replacement is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 21%, but the impact will be even greater when transport emissions are considered.

Each year, there will be a decrease of 1,200 tons of glass – and suppliers are working to ensure that quality is not affected.

Catena Appellation Vista Flores 2022 is coming to the market in a 380-gram bottle, practically half the weight of the previous one.

The tradition of thicker bottles – with thicker glass – began around the 90s as a marketing strategy by some wineries to show consumers that their product was “ultra premium”.

(Interestingly, the producers of the world’s great wines, like Romanée-Conti or Château Margaux, never touched their bottles.)

Now, the industry is backtracking – and Catena Zapata wants to educate customers about what’s new.

“It’s to spread the message that what’s important is the liquid inside the bottle, not the packaging,” Laura Catena told the website SevenFifty Daily, dedicated to the beverage industry. “If more people start talking about the benefits of reducing bottle weight, consumers will prefer lighter bottles. So we need to convince wine lovers.”

Daughter of Nicolás Catena Zapata and member of the fourth generation of the family, Laura is a great enthusiast of leaving the tradition of demijohns behind. For her, “reducing the weight of the bottle is the most effective action we can take to reduce the carbon footprint of the wine industry.”

The winery, as a bonus, will spend less on international shipping. Of all the wines produced by Catena Zapata, 97% of them will be in bottles weighing less than 510 grams.

Good news for Brazilian tourists, who will be able to leave the neighboring country carrying less heavy suitcases.

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Giuliano Guandalini