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Cockburn’s unveils lighter Port bottle
Symington Family Estates-owned Port house Cockburn’s has become the latest high profile producer to switch to a lighter glass bottle in a bid to curb emissions.
The brand, which was founded in 1815, has given its Cockburn’s Special Reserve range, as well as the white, ruby and tawny expressions in its core range, a re-design.
But, as well as sporting new labels, made in collaboration with artist Song Kang to nod to the house’s history, the refresh has also substantially reduced the weight of its packaging.
“When we acquired Cockburn’s in 2010, we embarked on an ambitious journey to modernise its viticulture and winemaking practices,” said Symington Family Estates Port category manager Charlotte Symington.
“By leveraging our family’s expertise and commitment to quality, we are thrilled to have successfully restored the reputation of this historic Port house,” Symington continued. “Now, we’re extending Cockburn’s history of innovation into how our ports are presented. We believe this fresh approach, with an emphasis on visual storytelling, will inspire people to see Port in an entirely new light.”
According to Cockburn’s, the new 75cl bottle has decreased in weight from 585 grams to 450g, and the one litre one has gone down by 80g to 560g.
The Port house calculates that this reduction in mass equates to around 432 tonnes less glass each year, and would offset 256 tonnes of Carbon dioxide annual (based on the figure of 2.39 million 75cl bottles and 734,000 litre bottles purchased) – apparently, such a volume of CO₂ is equivalent to the emissions 1,042 one-way flights from Porto to London, and that it would take 11,776 trees to absorb that quantity each year.
Lighter bottles have become a popular move for large wine businesses seeking to hit sustainability targets. Last week, The Wine Society announced has now listed four wines packaged in recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) bottles, which weigh a fraction of what a wine packaged in the glass equivalent does.
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