ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

OF WINE INDUSTRY

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 Project Report on

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
On
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF WINE INDUSTRY

Submitted To:
PROF. LEENA NANDANWAR

MBA Core : Finance

Submission Date : 21th December, 2009.

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 Group Members

Name Roll No

Alpesh Darji 04
Brijesh Shah 31
Dhaval Pandya 36
Jaykanth Kasthuri 50
Karan Shrimankar 51
Larin Patel 62
Mohammad Khoje 74
Nitin Jain 93

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INTRODUCTION

The production of wine is indeed a process of complex nature, from the initial wine
grape nurturing at the vineyard to the winery activities to extract the juices from these
grapes. To what extent do these activities consume energy and produce emissions,
however? In the past this area of beverage production has not come under much
scrutiny as far as environmental loads, due to the nature of its resources and
production. Therefore, the life cycle of wine will be explored to further detail stages in
the process of concern and to provide areas of improvement in account of sustainability
to health and the environment.
In recent years, new product on the market, ecological wine (or organic wine) has been
emerging with quite rapid success, along with many other organic foods which now see
popular demand. But, what exactly makes eco-wine more fashionable? Upon the mere
mentioning of the term “eco-wine,” a reaction from many of the general public is of
conundrum and concern. This follows by the words, “what is it, and what makes it
different?” Consequently, a thrill to learn more ensues. Wine is indeed a drink of
luxurious and social status, and the assumption that a particular wine is of

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environmental concern only adds to the novelty and conversational value associated
with its consumption.

OVERVIEW OF THE WINE PRODUCTION PROCESS

Wine production is a technique of great regard and complexity to produce a beverage

enjoyed worldwide. The process begins at the vineyard, where wine grapes using
special techniques for cultivating and maintaining the crop, depending upon the species
of grape and type of wine associated. Thereafter, the grapes are harvested, upon which
they are then either extracted of their juices, called the must, in a process called
crushing either mechanically or by treading, the traditional method of basically stepping
on the grapes in a large container. Red wines, as described in this report, are fermented
with their skins and pips, from which alcohol that is produced during the fermenting
process will begin to extract colouring and tannins of the skins and seeds, giving wine
its colour. Fermentation commences by adding the juices and skins together, which
contain natural yeasts then producing alcohol and carbon dioxide. Henceforth, the wine
is then introduced into a series of processes called clarifying where the skins and other
debris are filtered, fined and kept at constant temperature. Hereafter wine undergoes
measures to ensure that the wine will not spoil and produce haze, called stabilization by
addition of chemicals and constant temperature storage. Wine must then be aged for
some time, in a process named aging, and thereafter bottled and transported to the end
user. The whole process can take considerable time, from several months to years
depending upon the degree of quality to be achieved.

OBJECTIVE
From the details and data associated with the production cycle in the wine production
industry, a life cycle assessment shall provide information on relevant impacts to
environment, human health and more of wine production. The contributions of each
sub-process is of great importance in order to classify wine and know the areas which
create the most problems, to be later compared and discussed about with further
context to a new type of wine, ecological wine or organic wine.
Subsequent to the investigation into the life cycle of regular wine production, the
ecological variety will be compared, not with numbers, but by the areas which it employs
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as a way to reduce impacts to the environment. Shortcomings in the process of regular
wine will be thus compared with areas of highlight for ecological wine, and the efficiency
of each stage justified. Therefore, the following report wishes to conduct an assessment
of whether or not an ecological product, such as wine, is truly more sustainable or
comparatively equal to its normal counterpart. The report also aims to identify whether
the labelling of “ecological” wine is fair to class, while the regular wine will be compared,
in turn, to assess its impacts and possible similarities with an ecological product.

In retrospect, the specific aims of this report shall include:

• Extent at which activities consume energy and introduce
emissions in wine production.
• Identify the crucial activities/stages in the wine production
which establish the largest impacts.
• Classify which activities ecological wine aims to explore to
reduce impacts.
• Judge the true nature of ecological wine in respect to
regular wine

LIST OF TERMS USED

• Vineyard- The farm where wine grapes are grown for wine
production.
• Wine grapes- Special grapes used for wine production .
• Viticulture- The science, cultivation and study of grape
growing.
• Fermentation- The process by which grape sugar turns into
alcohol and carbon dioxide.

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 • Winery- A winery is a facility where fruit, usually grapes, is
processed into wine. Some wineries are located on the
same site as the vineyard whose grapes they process,
while others process grapes they purchase from vineyards
many away from their production site.
• Clarification- umbrella term for a host of processes
designed to ensure wine is crystal clear, including fining,
filtration and refrigeration.
• Treading(Crushing)- an important winemaking operation
involving literally pressing the juice (white wines) or
astringent press wine out of the skins.
• Stabilization- umbrella term for all the winemaking
operations designed to stop wines developing a fault in
bottle such as a haze, cloud or fizz, no matter what the
storage conditions. It is practiced most brutally on everyday
wines.

VITICULTURE

Viticulture (from the Latin word for vine) is the science,

production and study of grapes which deals with the series of
events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for
winemaking, it is also known as viniculture. It is one branch of the
science of horticulture.

While the native territory of Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine,
is a band of area from Western Europe to the Persian shores of
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the Caspian Sea, the vine has demonstrated high levels of
adaptability and will sometimes mutate to accommodate a new
environment after its introduction. Because of this Viticulture can
be found on every continent except Antarctica.

Duties of the viticulturist include: monitoring and controlling pests

and diseases, fertilizing, irrigation, canopy management,
monitoring fruit development and characteristics, deciding when to
harvest and vine pruning during the winter months. Viticulturists
are often intimately involved with winemakers, because vineyard
management and the resulting grape characteristics, provide the
basis from which winemaking can begin.

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Process

After the harvest, the grapes are crushed and allowed to ferment.
Red wine is made from the must (pulp) of red or black grapes that
undergo fermentation together with the grape skins, while white
wine is usually made by fermenting juice pressed from white
grapes, but can also be made from must extracted from red
grapes with minimal contact with the grapes' skins. Rosé wines
are made from red grapes where the juice is allowed to stay in
contact with the dark skins long enough to pick up a pinkish color,
but little of the tannins contained in the skins.

During this primary fermentation, which often takes between one

and two weeks, yeast converts most of the sugars in the grape
juice into ethanol (alcohol) and carbon dioxide. After the primary
fermentation, the liquid is transferred to vessels for the secondary
fermentation. Here, the remaining sugars are slowly converted into
alcohol and the wine becomes clear. Some wines are then
allowed to age in oak barrels before bottling, which add extra
aromas to the wine, while others are bottled directly. Still others
may be aged in stainless steel tanks or glass carboys. The time
from harvest to drinking can vary from a few months for Beaujolais
nouveau wines to over twenty years for top wines. However, only
about 10% of all red and 5% of white wine will taste better after
five years than it will after just one year.[1] Depending on the quality
of grape and the target wine style, some of these steps may be
combined or omitted to achieve the particular goals of the
winemaker. Many wines of comparable quality are produced using
similar but distinctly different approaches to their production;
quality is dictated by the attributes of the starting material and not
necessarily the steps taken during vinification.

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Variations on the above procedure exist. With sparkling wines
such as Champagne, an additional fermentation takes place inside
the bottle, trapping carbon dioxide and creating the characteristic
bubbles. Sweet wines are made by ensuring that some residual
sugar remains after fermentation is completed. This can be done
by harvesting late (late harvest wine), freezing the grapes to
concentrate the sugar (ice wine), or adding a substance to kill the
remaining yeast before fermentation is completed; for example,
high proof brandy is added when making port wine. In other cases
the winemaker may choose to hold back some of the sweet grape
juice and add it to the wine after the fermentation is done, a
technique known as süssreserve.

Following are the steps in Wine making:

• The grapes
• Crushing and primary fermentation
• Crushed grapes leaving the crusher.
• Pressing
• Pigeage
• Cold and heat stabilization
• Secondary fermentation and bulk aging
• Malolactic fermentation
• Laboratory tests
• Blending and fining
• Preservatives
• Filtration
• Bottling

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SWOT Analysis

Strengths Weaknesses
• Indian wine consumption has grown • Wine remains an elite taste.
25-30% annually over a 5 year
period. • Wine is difficult to store in India due to lack
of cellars and refrigeration.
• Good climate for grape growing
• Less than 50 percent of the population is
• Urban population is increasing. legally old enough to drink (25 yrs. old).

• Youth are craving an alternative to • 400 million persons are 18 years old or
hard liquors and developing a more younger.
refined taste.
• Poor awareness of wine and infrastructure.
• Wine is becoming more acceptable
to women and youth.

Opportunities Threats
• 100 million persons will be legally • The Indian constitution discourages
allowed to drink alcohol (25 yrs. old) alcohol consumption.
in the next 5 years.
• Wine viewed as a “sin” by some.
• Supermarkets are emerging to
support wine distribution • Indians still prefer whisky.
infrastructure.
• Advertising for alcoholic beverages is
• Domestic market with increasing banned.
disposable income.
• Domestic wine production is coddled by
• Growing tourism industry. state governments.

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Present Scenario of wine industry in India

This paper reviews the nascent Indian wine industry in terms of

the area, production and marketing of wines in the country.
Approximately 38 wineries are presently operating in the country
with a total production of 6.2 million liters annually. Maharashtra
is leading among the states with 36 wineries and 5.4 million liter
production. Apart from this, 72,000 wine cases are imported
mainly by ITDC, Sansula, Brindco, E & J Gallo and other private
companies. At present 7,62,000 wine cases are sold every
year, which includes 46,000 cases of sparkling wines. Which is in
contrast to the much higher figures of other drinks such as whisky,
brandy and rum sold in the country. Eighty percent of wine
consumption in the country is confined in major cities such as
Mumbai (39%), Delhi (23%), Bangalore (9%) and Goa (9%). There
is growing awareness about the wine as a product in the domestic
market.

Poor storage and transport facilities inspite of tropical climate are

the main problems of wine marketing in the country. Other
constraints are the lack of promotional activities for wine
consumption in the country and unfavorable rules for domestic
marketing of wines except in few states. These and other factors
contributed to India’s low wine consumption which is hardly 0.07 L
per capita. Certain promotional strategies, such as easing of tariff
barriers for the wines, developing awareness on health benefits of
wine and to supply good quality wines in reasonable prices in the
domestic market are emphasized.

Contributions made by major wineries such as, Champagne

Indage (CI), Grover Vineyards and Sula Vineyards for indigenous
production of quality wines in the country are highlighted. CI at
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Narayangaon is a pioneer of French style wines in India, produces
exquisite qualities in both still and sparkling wines. The company
has the capacity of producing over 3 million bottles annually.
Some of their wines are exported to many European and Asian
countries. The company has a good collection of European wine
varieties. The Grovers Vineyards located in southern Karnataka
state also exports wines worth $ 4,35,000 every year. This
company has 200 hectares of vineyards under wine grapes of
35 varieties. Sula vineyards at Nashik has new welcome additions
to India’s smarter wine list. In Nashik region ‘Chenin Blanc’ is quite
predominantly grown but emphasis should be given to red wine
varieties. Sangli is another region but here farmers are advised to
choose appropriate varieties depending upon soil and
microclimate.

Grape growing is a highly capital intensive project, concerted

efforts are required by the Financial agencies to reduce the rate of
interest to 6-7% from the present 10-13%. Viticultural and wine
making aspects influencing the quality of wines have been
emphasized on. Wine grape cultivation practices are given in
detail along with the prominent European varieties which are
commercially grown in the country. The performance in terms of
fruit yield, juice yield, TSS, acidity and pH measurements of
major wine varieties are presented. The discussions highlighted
in this paper will be of immense value to the grape growers,
wineries, policy makers, financial institutions and government
agencies dealing with the production, marketing, processing and
certification of wines in the country.

Selected Indian wine of the month during the last year

November 2004 Sula Vineyards – 2004 Chenin Blanc

December 2004 Grover Vineyards- 2002 La Reserve
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January 2005 Grover Vineyards - Viognier
February 2005 Chateau Indage Estate Vineyards - 2002 Chardonnay
March 2005 Rajdheer Wines – Le Vine
April 2005 Flemingo Wines -Cabernet Sauvignon – Shiraz
May 2005 Chateau Indage Estate Vineyards- Omar Khayyam
June 2005 ND Wines - 2003 Sauvignon Blanc
July 2005 Chateau Indage Estate Vineyards – 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon
August 2005 Sailo Wines 2002 Red wine
September 2005 Flemingo Wines – 2004 Sauvignon Blanc – Chenin Blanc(A blend)
October 2005 Chateau Indage Estate Vineyards – 2005 Shiraz
November 2005 Grover Vineyards- 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon – Shiraz ( A blend)
January 2006 Mountain View-2005 Chenin Blanc (A Dessert Wine)

Role of Wine Parks

The Government of Maharashtra has nominated Maharashtra

Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) as a nodal agency for
establishment of grape wine parks in the state and would
coordinate efforts of various organizations from central and state
agencies and the stake holders such as farmers, processors,
service providers etc. Under this policy two wine parks have been
established by MIDC, one Godawari Wine Park at Vinchur,
Nashik District and Krishna Wine Park at Palus, Sangli district.
In addition a Grape Processing and Research Institute(GPRI) at
Palus under the Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University has also
been established. The objectives of GPRI are;

To give formal training to the farmers through various courses.

The successful candidates will be awarded certificates, diplomas
and degree in wine grape cultivation, manufacturing of standard
quality wines and marketing of wines.

1. To set up grape vine nurseries to provide authentic plant

material to growers.
2. To manufacture standard wines on pilot scale through
demonstrations.
3. To set up quality control laboratory for wines.

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4. To impart wine blending techniques.
5. To explore domestic and international markets and
6. To help farmers by setting up of a ‘Mother Unit’ for
manufacture of wines.

Two mother wines one at Vinchur near Nashik and another at

Palus near Sangli have been established. The concept of mother
unit is to set up common facilities such as equipment for
processing like pneumatic press, crusher, destemmer, filtration
unit, bottling unit, quality control lab, cold storage (celler),
packaging house and the services of the wine master and wine
tester, which are costly and required for short period of 2-3 days in
a season.

Domestic Wine Market

Both the Indian wine market and the indigenous wine industry are
in their nascent stages, but growing by leaps and bounds. Fifteen
years ago there was no locally made wine that was drinkable. Now
there are three significant wine makers, all family-owned
businesses, the Chougules, the Grovers and the Samants. There
is also great interest in wine makers from France, Italy, Australia,
South Africa, America, and Chile to enter the Indian market.

Segment wise Indian wine market during 2003 and 2004

Domestic production Retail Value

Imports Total
Segment
(‘000 cases*) (Rs. Million)
Sl.No
(‘000 cases) (‘000 cases)
2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004
1. Sparkling wines 35 35 5 11 40 46 258 297
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2. Still wines -premium 117 143 53 63 170 206 779 944
3. Still wines -cheap 234 240 -- --- 234 240 281 288
4. Fortified wines/Others 4 5 1 1 5 6 13 16
Total 390 423 59 75 449 498 1331 1545

*Note; A case is a unit of 9 litre capacity or equivalent to 12

bottles

During the year 2005, the total annual production of wine in India
was 6.214 million litres, out of this 5.4 million litres is produced in
Maharashtra alone that comprises 2.54 million litres of red wines,
2.69 million litres of white wines, 0.15 million litres of sparkling and
0.036 million litres of rosae wines. This is a very small fraction as
compared to world’s annual production of 32,000 million litres. The
country also imports 72,000 wine cases (9 litres/case) in a year
where 32,000 cases are bottled in origin and remaining 0.36 m
litres are imported in bulk flexi bags and subsequently bottled by
Indian wineries. Besides this, about 12,000 –15,000 wine cases
are sold through gray market.

The biggest consumption up to 80% is however confined to major

cities like Mumbai (39%), Delhi(23%), Bangalore (9%) and the
foreign tourist dominated state of Goa (9%), where as Rest of
India has only 20% consumption. Some Indian wine makers have
also started importing foreign made wine and bottling and selling it
here in India. Among the importers ; ITDC (Indian Tourism
Development Corporation), Sansula, Brindco and E&J Gallo
predominate. The Indian market is way behind major wine drinking
countries. The per capita consumption in India is only 0.07
litre/person/year as against 60-70 litres in France and Italy, 25
litres in US and 20 litres in Australia and even China has 0.4
litre.

Growth and Promotional activities for Indian wines

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With the government planning to showcase “Wines of India”
across the globe. The Agricultural and Processed Food Products
Export Development Authority (APEDA) are working out the
strategy and the campaign will be finalized soon. India has
recently received its first order for wine exports to the US and
Indian wines were also being served in restaurants - both Indian
and Western. Approximately 0.1 million litre of wine is exporting to
France, Italy, Germany, USA, NewYork, U.K. and Singapore from
Maharashtra state.

Stating that the promotion strategy would include analyzing the

internal support mechanisms including easing tariff barriers for the
liquor, the sources added, “the promotion campaign will target the
US, the European Union, South Africa and Southeast Asia in a
major way. There is more and more awareness about wine as a
product in Indian market. Changing life styles, frequent travels
abroad, more and more women employment. Increase in per
capita income, international research on health benefits of wines;
all have combined together to create wine awareness in India;
apart from the fact that good quality wines are now available in the
market.

Constraints in Wine marketing and consumption in India

Vintage Wine; Table Wines, Sparkling Wine, Dessert Wines,

Fortified Wines (port, Sherry, Marsala, Madeira, etc or aromatic
wines like Vermouth, Dubonnet, Lillet, Cynar, etc.) are the major
types of Indian wine.

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Table wines account for 85 per cent of the market and expensive
varieties of vintage wines account for the remaining 15 per cent.
However, as compared to other wine-producing nations, the
domestic wine consumption is very low. Indian wines have to go a
long way to gain recognizable positions in the world.

The flip side of the industry is that of the 762,440 cases sold every
year, only 46,000 cases of sparkling wine and champagne are
consumed in India. In contrast the figures of other drinks are: 37
million cases of whisky, 11 million cases of brandy and nine million
cases of rum. Industry officials believe that the market will grow
rapidly once the government drops import duties on bulk (currently
at 108 per cent) and on bottled wines

One of the other reasons why wine drinking has not caught on is
that quality wines are priced relatively high. Since the volumes
are low, production costs are high, as are taxes. In all hot
countries relatively new to wine, both local and imported wines are
clearly extremely vulnerable to poor storage and transport
conditions. The main constraint in achieving the quality goal is the
fact that the quality compliance is very poor among the wine
manufacturers.

Thus the real challenge for winemakers in India is to develop a

domestic market, and that is where the problem arises. First,
people believe wine and curry do not go well. "It is a myth," says
Thomas Abraham, F & B Manager of Delhi's Hyatt Regency hotel.
" The truth is most Indians prefer beer, whiskey or rum over wine
and champagne. That's why the per capita consumption of wine in
India is very low " Traditionally wine lovers around the world have
some kind of a mental block against Indian wines. They are just
not comfortable with the Made in India tag."
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Indigenous Wine Production

Chateau Indage

Chateau Indage (CI), Narayangaon nested in the high Sahyadri

Valley of western Maharashtra pioneered by Sham Chougule was
established in 1984, with the technical collaboration of
Champagne's Piper Heidsieck. The company owns vineyards
spread over 600 acres located 230 km from Mumbai. The
company kick-started the Indian wine revolution in the 1980s with
a surprisingly appettizing methode traditionelle fizz sold on the
local market as Marquise- de- Pompadour but exported with
considerable success as Omar Khayyam. It manufactures 18
types of wine and the main varieties used by the winery are
Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Ugni Blanc, Pinot Noir,
Gamay, Riesling, Muscat of Alexandria, Semillon, Sauvignon
Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Zinfandel, Viognier, Shiraz, Malbec and
Grenache. The ultra-modern winery in Narayangaon, produces a
wide range of high-quality wines under the watchful eye of French
and Californian winemakers. Chateau Indage also sells a range of
still wines on the domestic market under the names Riviera,
Figueira, Ivy and Chantilli. The Riviera red based on Pinot Noir is
well made and attractively dry; it takes chilling well. Pioneer of
French-style wines in India, CI produces a variety of exquisite still
and sparkling wines. The company's wineries have a capacity to
produce over three million bottles of wine per year. In the Indian
market Indage holds 75 % share of the premium still wine
category and the virtual monopoly in Sparkling wines. Chateau
Indage's Riviera label includes a fruity, well-balanced white blend
of chardonnay and Ugni blanc and a soft fresh red made from
pinot noir. The Chantilly label wines; a white (chardonnay) and a
red (cabernet sauvignon) are aged in French oak and show their
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varietal characteristics. Omar Khayyam is a top-quality
chardonnay-based sparkling wine, made by the methode
traditionelle, that compares favorably with champagne. The
company also distills a fine oak-aged grape brandy. Their wines
are also exported to U.K., Sweden, Switzerland, Germany,
Canada, Bhutan, Nepal, Srilanka, Mauritius, New Zealand, Japan
and U.S.A.

Over the years the company has introduced 84 accessions of

wine varieties ; 52 from France, 24 from Germany, 4 from Italy, 1
each from South Africa, Korea, Chile and California, USA. It has
also 28 accessions of rootstocks introduced mostly from France
and Germany.

Grover Vineyards

Grover Vineyards, in Dodballapur, 40 km north of Bangalore at the

foot of the Nandi hills, on the other hand, uses French grapes Vitis
vinifera in its vineyards in Bangalore. It exports wine worth
$435,000 every year. "The Grover range produced from high-
altitude vineyards north of Bangalore, with help from the
ubiquitous Michel Rolland of Pomerol, is extremely respectable.
The reds, particularly the Reserve red, are a distinct notch above
the slightly dull Clairette-based white.

Fifteen years ago, the Grovers took on the task of reviving wine
drinking in India. The company, together with Mr. George Vesselle
accepted the immense challenge of growing for the first time
French varieties of grapes, suitable for wine production in India.
Grover Vineyards is jointly owned by Kanwal Grover and Veuve
Cliquot. Kanwal Grover is advised by two top French winemakers,
Michel Rolland and Georges Vesselle. The vineyards are planted

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at 2,000 feet above sea level and some varieties can produce
two crops a year. Still white and red wines from Bangalore Purple,
Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Thompson seedless grapes are
made under the supervision of winemaker Bruno Yvon. The white
is medium-dry and fairly bland; the red is cabernet-style with good
depth of fruit.

Bangalore, with the ideal combination of rich, well drained soil,

warm sunny days, cool nights and temperate climate, was finally
selected over six other places as the most suitable site. Thirty-five
important varieties used in France for making wine were planted.
In the next five years there was an emissary of French oenologists
to study their adaptability to Indian conditions, as well as to assess
the quality of wine they would ultimately produce. Finally, in 1988
Grover Vineyards was established on 40 acres of land at the foot
of the Nandi Hills. Here nine varieties which had responded well to
Indian conditions were planted on an industrial scale. Today,
Grover Vineyards has over 200 hectares under plantation. Unlike
other wine makers in India, Grover Vineyards is the only company
which shuns ordinary table grapes, while exclusively using French
wine grapes, selected from the original thirty five varieties of the
Vitis vinifera species. The company has export target of 25% of
its production for the current year i.e. 1.5 lakh bottles. Exports are
mainly to France, US and UK. APEDA has chosen Grover
Vineyards for bronze medal for the excellence in export for the
year 2003-04. “ So began in earnest Grover's quest to produce
India's wines made exclusively from French grapes and to world
standards - and to persuade the great whisky drinking Indian
dinnerati to drink wine. Neither quest has been easy." - Mark
Nicholson, Financial Times, London, September 14, 1997.

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Sula Vineyards

The most recent entrant into the Indian wine market is Sula,
complete with labels of almost California sophistication. This
winery was started in 1998 and setup about seven years ago
near the town of Nashik, 200 km north-east of Mumbai, at an
altitude of 600 metres, by Mr. Rajiv Samant, a Stanford trained
software engineer and a returnee from Silicon Valley, USA.
Initially, he was trying to plant Alphonso mango trees, but he found
that his land near Gangapur Lake is similar to Napa valley in the
USA. He, then, turned to viticulture and wine making. He built a
winery with the help of Mr. Kerry Damskey, a wine maker from
Sonama county in California and planted Chenin Blanc and other
wine varieties. The winery was designed by Mr. Rahul Mehrotra,
Mumbai’s leading architect.

The Sula winery is growing rapidly during the last few years,
which actually indicates the potential of Indian wine industry. The
annual turnover has increased from Rs 55 million in 2002-03 to
Rs 180 million in 2004-05. The sales have increased from 20,000
cases in 2002-03 to 70,000 cases in 2004-05, out of which 4700
cases were exported. The company plans to sale over 1 million
bottles abroad, during 2005-06, for which they have doubled their
annual capacity from 0.75 million litres to 1.5 million litres.

Sula Brut, Sula Seco and Sauvignon Blanc will be some welcome
additions to India’s smarter wine list. Sula wines are available in
finest hotels and restaurants in India, which includes premier hotel
chains like J.W. Marriott, Grand Hyatt and Taj Hotels. The
company feel proud to mention that their wines are available at
‘Lavinia’ the France’s largest wine shop and are imported by ‘M/s

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Gaja Distribuzione’ of Italy, who also produces Italy’s most famous
eponymous wines. Sula wines have been exported to US, UK,
France, Italy, Canada and Ireland.

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Major Wine markets of the World

Out of world’s total annual production of 32 billion litres, the

following are among the top countries and MNC’s have their
major share in the world wine market.

France 5.6 billion ltrs

Italy 5.3 “
Spain 3.5 “
US 2.2 “
Argentina 1.4 “
Germany 1.0 “
South Africa 770 million ltrs
Australia 750 “
China 690 “
Gallo (MNC) 675 “
Portugal 611 “

In case of Australia, that exports 230 million liters annually worth

more than 1 billion dollars and UK is its major market worth $489
million.

Classification of Wine

Wines are categorized using a number of different methods.

Sometimes they are grouped into different categories by grape
variety, region of origin, by color, by the name of the wine maker
or viticulturalist, or by production technique. Three basic groups of
wines are most easily distinguishable for the consumer: table
wines, sparkling wines and fortified wines. Table wines, also
known as still or natural wines, are produced in many different
styles and make up the majority of wines on the market.
Traditionally consumed as part of a meal, table wines contain
between 10 and 14 percent alcohol and are further classified by
their color, sugar content, and the variety and origin of the grapes

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that were used. Depending on the grape variety and wine-making
technique, wines can be white, red, or pink in color. Most table
wines are fermented until they are dry i.e, all the grape sugar has
been turned to alcohol by the yeast. Slightly sweet or off-dry wines
are made by stopping the fermentation before all the sugar is gone
or by adding grape juice back to the wine afterwards.

Machineries and Accessories and other inputs for wineries

The quality of the wine is decided in vineyards. But making

appropriate and good quality wine out of good grapes is more of a
skill of a wine-maker than pure science. Such skill can be better
executed by the wine maker consistently and hygienically, if the
winery has good machineries, like destemmer, crusher,
pneumatic/ hydraulic press, screw pumps, fermentation tanks with
cooling jackets/ cooling system; filters & insulated tanks for cold
stabilization of the wine, vacuumized bottling plants and water
softeners are the major machineries required in wine Industry.
Most of these machineries in large old wineries, were imported
from European countries especially Italy. Makes of Della Toffola,
Velo, Grotto Derfanceschi etc are commonly seen in Indian
wineries (Photo). However, Maharashtra is the only state in the
country given impetus to develop wine industry and leads in
winery machine manufacturers in India. Many of them have
developed prototypes of full range machineries suited to variable
sizes of wineries. Companies like M/s Winetech Engineers and
Datacone Wine machineries Pvt. Ltd. have displayed their
prototypes with specifications on their websites. Destemmer,
crusher, press and screw pump are the machineries which handle
grapes when arrive at winery and prepare must for fermentation.
These machineries play very important role in deciding wine
quality and involve lots of sophistication. Most wineries in India,
25
have not opted to go for Indian machineries for preparing must for
fermentation and use imported units where destemmer, crusher,
press and screw pumps are integrated and the unit works on
digitally programmed & sophisticated software. Krishna wine park
at Palus in Sangli district lends out such units to the smaller
wineries on hire. Fermentation tanks with cooling jackets and
cooling system in most new wineries are made in India. The tanks
are normally made by using medical grade stainless steel (SS-
316L/304) and have mirror finish from inside surface. Even old
wineries are now opting for Indian made fermentation tanks and
cooling systems, which are of international standards. It is also
hoped that other Indian made machineries like filtering units and
bottling plants will be used especially by small & newly
established Indian wineries.

Oak wood vats and barrels are required to mature good wines.
This is a very expensive input for any winery since such material
can only be imported from European continent and other
countries. Use of large vats is difficult due to high temperatures in
tropical region. Hence small barrels are used by some big wineries
in temperature controlled rooms to mature high value wines
(Photo). Sparkling wines are prepared by only big wineries so far.
Special kind of bottles sustaining high pressure of trapped gas and
special device to gradually tilt the bottles during secondary
fermentation are imported. Wine bottles, corks, labels and silver
foils are also imported from outside India.

26
IMPACT CATEGORIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT
METHODS

In order to provide the information on relevant impacts to

environment and etc. of wine life cycle, it is useful to utilize the
Eco Indicator 99 (V 2.03), egalitarian version.
This tool is sufficient for product development applications for
internal use in the considered winery company. (Baumann, H.;
Tillmam, A., 2004) This impact assessment method provides a
clear and simple approach toward the various environmental
impacts.
Identification and selection of impact categories depend generally
on the goal and scope definition. Also information collected during
the inventory method, amount and quality of data and limitations
from SimaPro data catalogue influence greatly these procedures.
According to the ISO standard, the headlines for impact categories
are distinguished as:
• resource use
• ecological consequences
• human health

These categories must be divided into sub-categories for more

operational and practical applications. During the inventory impact
assessment phase one can obtain the following main
environmental impacts for the considered life-cycle:
• global warming
• ozone layer depletion
• acidification
• eutrophication
• photochemical oxidant formation

27
 • depletion of fossil fuels and minerals

The model of the wine life cycle includes several sources of

information for recourse and emissions datasets. Two main
sources of information for inventory procedure should be
distinguished:
• Automatically included resources and emissions from
databases of SimaPro 6.0 (for instance pollution and resources
for irrigation, land filling etc.)
• Information gathered through analyzing and calculations of
environmental reports from European (Italy, France, Spain,
and Sweden), American and Australian companies.

The resources and emissions used in the model create and relate
to all above mentioned environmental impact categories. Here
only groups of resources and emissions relevant are indicated to
distinguish different process stages:
• service data group (transport, packaging of wine and washing
of bottles)
• product data group (production of 1 litre of wine and 1 glass
bottle)
• waste data group (recycling and land filling waste scenario).

Wine Grapes (Harvesting and Growing Activities)

The processing of wine grapes can be split into various activities
including the input of materials, various processes (e.g. fertilizing)
and emissions to the environment. The data for these sources
comes most notably from two key research papers from the
Australian Wine Industry and an EPD performed for CIV & CIV,
hereafter referred to as the Australian and EPD document
respectively. (Australian Wine Industry, 2003), (EPD, 2006)
28
INPUTS
The following data table below outlines the extent of the inputs
provided for the production of wine grapes. From the figure, the
name of the input, which includes materials and processes, the
amount used, followed by the SimaPro name, source of
information, SimaPro database and a reference to the calculations
and other relevant information in the Appendix are given.
Subsequent tables for the Winery Activities, Transport and Wine
bottle follow this very same model.

Grapes for Winery (Harvested Grapes)

SimaPro SimaPro
Input Name Amount Reference/Source Appendi
Input\Name Database
Irrigating 0.000222 ha Irrigating/CH S N/A EcoInvent A, B
Fertilizing, by
Fertilizing 0.000222 ha N/A EcoInvent A,B
broadcaster/CH S
Wood, oak IDEMAT
Wood 0.0227 kg Australia B
European 2001
Nitrogen IDEMAT
0.015 kg Fertilizer-N1 WSU A,B
Fertilizer 2001
Phosphorous IDEMAT
0.037 kg Fertilizer-P1 WSU A,B
Fertilizer 2001
Pesticides
unspecified, at
Pesticides 0.00302 kg WSU EcoInvent A,B
regional
storehouse/RER S
IDEMAT
LPG 0.00010652 kg LPG 1 Australia A,B
2001
ETH-ESU
Petrol leaded stock
Petrol 0.003876 kg Australia 96 System A,B
Europe S
Proc

29
 ETH-ESU
Diesel stock
Diesel 0.01252 kg Australia 96 System A,B
Europe S
Proc
Electricity France BUWAL
Electricity 0.334 MJ Australia B
B250 250

Inputs (grapes for winery)

30
PROCESSES AND ASSUMPTIONS
Processes required in the production of wine grapes include
chiefly Irrigating and Fertilizing. Values relevant for these
processes were not found despite their importance in the process.
Moreover, their impacts are accounted for wholly in the EPD and
Australian documents which tabulate emissions, fuel consumption
and electricity required for their employment. Therefore, the
processes at hand and their SimaPro input hold no reference and
are simply affixed to the database to create a more realistic
scenario for vineyard activities. Their data does not include input
of fertilizer and pesticides, so subsequent addition of this was
necessary. (Australian Wine Industry, 2003)
Transportation is also required in the shipment of grapes, various
vineyard chores and machinery used. However, their emissions
and impacts are accounted for in the use of fuels (petrol, diesel,
and LPG) and emissions of CO2, CFC’s and Methane. Therefore,
no transportation mode is accounted for in the data as given.

MATERIAL INPUTS AND ASSUMPTIONS

As stated previously, impacts for transportation and growing
activities at the vineyard are accounted for with the addition of
fuels into the database/process for Wine Grape Harvesting. Petrol,
Diesel and LPG were the primary sources attributable to the
activity, and their values originated from the report by the
Australian Wine Industry. (Australian Wine Industry, 2003) Values
were then converted from their original state to ease input into the
SimaPro database for the given functional unit. Relevant SimaPro
materials were chosen from different SimaPro databases for each
material, and the basic assumption of European Stock for the fuels
was used.

31
The wood which was input into the system is the wood needed for
posts for vineyard structure (i.e. holding up the vines). Values
were obtained once again from the Australian database and based
on 1 hectare of vineyard. (Australian Wine Industry, 2003)

Fertilizers and Pesticides used were discovered from a document

about the grape growing process in Washington, USA. (WSU,
2006) Amounts given in the document include such for 1 acre of
vineyard, thereafter these numbers were converted for input into
the harvesting process. Calculations given in Appendix A for
Vineyard Activities. It assumed in the SimaPro databases,
Appendix B, that data given refers to numbers involved in the
production of the respective substances and that no further
impacts have been taken into account, such as soil or water
pollution due to fertilizer and pesticides use. This assumption will
probably decrease the wine life cycle impact, but is considered
that will not have a big influence
Electricity input for the system was tabulated from the data
provided in the Australia document. (Australian Wine Industry,
2003) Numbers are given for GJ of energy per tonne of grapes
produced, therefore an output in this case of kilograms allowed
simplified calculations not subsequently shown in the Appendix.

OUTPUTS

Grapes for Winery (Harvested Grapes)

Reference/ SimaPro
Output Name Amount SimaPro Input\Name Appendix
Source Database
0.952 Carbon Dioxide, CAS number-
Carbon Dioxide EPD A,B
kg Fossil 000124-38-9
Chlorinated 0.0006 Chlorinated
EPD N/A A,B
Fluorocarbons kg Fluorocarbons, soft
0.346 CAS number-
Hydrogen Hydrogen EPD A,B
kg 001333-74-0

32
 0.0806 CAS number-
Oxygen Oxygen EPD A,B
kg 007782-44-7
0.0018 CAS number-
Methane Methane EPD A,B
kg 000074-82-8
0.016
Wood Posts Wood Wastes Australia N/A B
kg

Outputs (grapes for winery)

As seen above, emissions produced during the vineyard activities
include CO2, Chlorinated Fluorocarbons, Hydrogen, Oxygen and
Methane. The data in this case comes from that provided by the
EPD produced for the CIV & CIV wine for polluting emissions
involved in vineyard activities. (EPD, 2006) database was
produced using pertinent resources provided by the given
SimaPro databases, as seen above. Conversions and small
calculations then followed suit, and are again provided in the
Appendix B (Vineyard) for further reference. Wood wastes are
then produced from the vineyard posts for vine stability and health.
A complex series of recycling and wastes are produced from these
posts, as seen in the Australian document. However, to alleviate
calculations and time, it is assumed that half of the wooden posts
are disposed of to land filling operations. (Australian Wine
Industry, 2003)

33
WINERY ACTIVITIES

INPUTS

Winery activities (1L Wine)

Input SimaPro SimaPro
Amount Reference/Source Appendix
name Input\Name Database
CAS number-
Water 2,5 l Water, fresh Australia A,B
007732-18-5
CAS number-
SO2 75 mg Sulphur dioxide Cook et al. A,B
007446-09-5
CAS number-
NaOH 1,62 g Sodium hydroxide Australia A,B
001310-73-2
Grapes for Winery
Grapes 2 kg - Own dataset B
(harvested grapes)
0,007183
LPG fuel LPG I Australia IDEMAT 2001 A,B
kg
Natural 0,00474 Natural gas N-sea
Australia IDEMAT 2002 A,B
gas kg I
ETH-ESU 96
0,001416 Diesel stock
Diesel Australia System A,B
kg Europe S
processes
ETH-ESU 96
0,008436 Petrol leaded stock
Petrol Australia System A,B
kg Europe S
processes
Electricity France
Electricity 0,551 MJ Australia BUWAL250 B
B250

Outputs (winery activities)

34
The preceding table shows the inputs from the winery activities.
The data for the winery stage has been collected mainly from
Australian and EPD documents. Of further note, ‘Grapes for
Winery’ refers to the datasheet created previously in SimaPro.
Inputs to the system consist nearly of only grapes, different energy
sources, SO2 as additive, water and cleaning products.

LIMITATIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS FOR WINERY ACTIVITIES

The winery consists of different production stages, such as
fermentation, crushing, stabilization, etc. All these operations need
resources and have specific emissions. However, the data found
in the Australian, EPD and Cook, G. documents refers to overall
inputs and outputs of the winery, and that is how is has been
resumed in the tables. (Australian Wine Industry, 2003), (EPD,
2006)
Water and NaOH are used for cleaning the equipment. SO2 is a
basic compound that has to be added to the wine. There are
different energy sources in the winery, and each one has a
defined use. For instance, while natural gas is used in boilers to
produce hot water or generators to produce electricity, diesel is
mainly used for in-site transport. (Cook et al., 1988)

35
OUTPUTS

Winery activities (1L Wine)

Reference SimaPro
Output name Amount SimaPro Input\Name Appendix
/Source Database
Carbon CAS number-
dioxide 1,665 kg Carbon dioxide, fossil EPD 000124-38-9 A, B
Chlorinated
CFC 0,0059 kg fluorocarbons, soft EPD N/A A,B
CAS number-
Hydrogen 0,000429 kg Hydrogen EPD 001333-74-0 A,B
CAS number-
Oxygen 0,257 kg Oxygen EPD 007782-44-7 A,B
CAS number-
Methane 0,0016 kg Methane EPD 000074-82-8 A,B
Packaging Packaging waste,
waste 0,0116 kg paper and board Australia N/A B

Waste 0,0566 kg Waste, unspecified Australia N/A B

Outputs (winery activities)

When it comes to outputs, the air pollutants are the same as in

vineyard activities, and are taken from the same information
source, EPD. Apart from that, some solid waste is also generated,
mainly packaging waste such as paper and cardboards, and
various solid waste containing old filters or cellar doors. Further
data assumptions are collected in Appendix B, while calculations
are written in Appendix A.

36
Boxed Wine Strengths and Weaknesses

Other advantages of bag-in-box wines include the ability to serve

one glass at a time and keep the remainder fresh for up to six
weeks in the fridge. With vacuum packaging, the problem of cork
taint is eliminated and the overall cost savings is hefty. But the
image of box wine is still pretty tawdry as far as serious wine
enthusiasts are concerned. Even those traditionalists who are
coming around to the idea that maybe screw caps are fine for
some wines, balk at the idea of a cellar full of cardboard boxes. It
is difficult to imagine how wine service at fine-dining
establishments would handle such a change.

Wine bottle
A bottle showing the translucent green of many wine bottles

A wine bottle is a bottle used for holding wine, generally

made of glass. Some wines are fermented in the bottle, others
are bottled only after fermentation. They come in a large
variety of sizes, several named for Biblical kings and other
figures. The standard bottle contains 75 cL, although this is a
relatively recent development. Wine bottles are usually sealed with
cork, but screw-top caps are becoming popular, and there are
several other methods used to seal a bottle.

Sizes
Side-by-side comparison of champagne bottles. (L to R) On
ladder: magnum, full, half, quarter. On floor: Balthazar,
Salmanazar, Methuselah, Jeroboam

37
INPUTS

Wine Bottle (0.75 L)

Input SimaPro SimaPro
Amount Reference/Source Appendix
Name Input\Name Database
Raw cork, at
0,01173 forest
Cork kg road/RERS EPD Ecoinvent B
0,00175 Aluminium foil BUWAL
Aluminium kg B250 EPD 250 B
0,0032 Paper woody C BUWAL
Paper kg B250 EPD 250 B
Packaging glass,
green at
Glass 0,853 kg plant/CH S EPD Ecoinvent B
Washing Washing bottles ( SimaPro BUWAL
Glass 1 point 1l ) catalogue 250 B

Wine bottle inputs

The bottling process includes several processes: bottling-corking-
labeling- washing of bottles. Information concerning bottle
production is provided both from specific data and inputs used
from the given SimaPro database. Specific data is obtained using
information from the EPD and Australian documents. Applicable
numbers include input aspects as: cork, aluminum, and paper and
glass consumption for the bottle production.

Subsequent to this information, the process of washing bottles

before filling and transportation is considered with needed indexes
from SimaPro databases BUWAL 250 and ECOINVENT
databank. The LCA includes the consumption of natural and

38
energy resources, the emissions into the environment and the
production of waste.

39
ASSUMPTIONS AND LIMITATIONS FOR BOTTLING
In the bottling process there are some limitations and assumptions
to be made about all of the materials needed for the bottling
process. Subsidiary products (e.g. glue, ink, etc.) are not included
due to absence of information available and the incredibly small
amount of employment of the products respectively. Water
resources are also automatically included in the washing bottles
stage (see Appendix B, Bottling).
Fuels and electricity used to produce input materials are
automatically taken into account of SimaPro Database catalogue
(see Appendix B, Bottling).
Amount of fuel and electricity used for filling of bottles is not
calculated due to avoid the overlapping. Of further note, overall
electricity consumption for Winery Activities includes bottling in its
calculations; therefore it is not necessary to double the amount of
electricity.

OUTPUTS
Quantity and diversity of outputs are not well defined due to lack of
gathered information. There are no outputs from specific
databases. Only a small number of separate outputs from
SimaPro data catalogue are available for the report making. (See
Appendix B)

40
TRANSPORTATION PHASE
Transport operations described are associated with transport
between the winery facilities and consumption phases. This stage
covers loading ready bottled wine in La Rochelle, France harbour
and transporting it to Gothenburg, Sweden harbour in a vessel by
sea. Other transport activities which occur from the winery facility
to the harbour and from Gothenburg harbour to secondary
consumers are not included. The former is assumed to have
relatively small environmental effect and therefore is cut off. And
the later transport to secondary consumer was not taken into
account because of difficult variability of local (Swedish) consumer
network.

INPUTS
For the modelling of the transport phase only one process stage
from SimaPro is used, to show the shipment process from La
Rochelle to Gothenburg. For this transport by boat, the index
“tonne-kilometres” is applied. The given index is considered as a
multiplication of the distance with the amount (weight) of goods
transported. In the present case the calculations are shown for the
transportation of one bottle of wine in Appendix A, Transport for
further understanding.(Volvo Ocean Race, 2001)

OUTPUTS
There is a wide range of outputs possible from SimaPro Database,
such as emissions to air, water waste (see Appendix B,
Transportation). All emissions are automatically included in the
program and therefore they do not require more specific
calculations or assumptions.

WASTE ACTIVITIES

41
Waste activities take place in the final part of the studied life cycle.
They comprise a certain number of waste landfill and recycling
operations and transportation of used wine bottles from consumer
to a disposal phase. It is assumed that waste handling has only
mono outputs locating within the system boundaries. Therefore
allocation procedures are not required for correct calculations.

INPUTS

Waste Disposal Activities

Input Reference/Sour SimaPro Append
Name Amount SimaPro Input\Name ce Database ix
BUWAL
Transportation 0.01706 tkm Truck 16t B250 250 A,B
Wine bottle
Collected glass 0.853 kg recycling EPD B
86% of
Recycling collecte BUWAL
glass d Recycling glass B250 Swedish Institute 250 B
14% of
Landfillin collecte BUWAL
g d Landfill B250 (98) Swedish Institute 250 B

Inputs and outputs of waste disposal activities

For the calculations and forming the model, the following
information about inputs is needed:
• fuel
• energy
• amount of recycled and landfiled bottles
• distance from consumer to waste handling facilities
• weight of a wine bottle

ASSUMPTIONS AND LIMITATIONS

42
Amount of energy and fuels needed for transport and recycling
and land filling operations are defined automatically with SimaPro
catalogue accordance. It is convenient to do the same calculations
for ‘tonne-kilometers’ index of waste as previously for
transportation of wine bottles.

OUTPUTS/EMISSIONS
There is no need to define specific outputs and additional
calculations for them because in the given case all required
outputs are accounted for from the research in the SimaPro
catalogue. The list of emissions can be founded in Appendix B,
Transport.
Life Cycle Assessment: Wine vs. Eco-Wine 17

RESULTS

Upon completion of the LCA analysis with SimaPro, significant

positive and negative effects of the stages in the Life Cycle for
wine production have been identified and subsequently shown. In
the first analysis, the weighted assessment of impact categories is
identified with normalization and weighting parameters applied
according to the Eco-Indicator 99 egalitarian method. It shows the
environmental impact categories that have been defined before in
precedent reading. Its data also shows the positive effect of the
glass bottle recycling stage, which is shown shaded in with green.
The fossil fuels impact category has the most significant impact,
with up to 52 mPt (including the positive effect of recycling).
Moreover, the respiratory inorganics category impact has a great
influence (30mPt) on human health, ecological consequences and
resources as well. This is followed by the climate change category
again having significant impacts (12mPt).

43
44
WEIGHTING OF IMPACT CATEGORIES FOR WINE LIFE
CYCLE
Hereafter, single score analysis was produced to find the
significance of impacts, and moreover their similarities. Based on
the results of the flow diagram, Figure 1 of Appendix C shows the
three main stages, which have relatively similar scale of impacts.
These main stages can be classified as the Wine (1L), Wine Bottle
and Transport stage. Their overall impacts vary from 32.5 % (wine
bottle stage) to 40.9 % (transport). Moreover, the relevant effect of
the recycling process should be taken into account, which
accounts for -11%. Refer to Figure 1 in Appendix C for further
review of the preceding discussion.
Given that fossil fuels account for the largest impact in the life
cycle for the wine production, the relative magnitude of the
processes impact on fossil fuel consumption was subsequently
measured. Figure 2 of Appendix C illustrates the wine production
flow chart for fossil fuels. The figure should help to find where
fossil fuels have high impact source. The main causes are:
• Production of crude oil used in transport stage.
• Packaging glass production stage.
• Vineyard activities, especially irrigation and diesel use and
pesticide production.

Illustrates the wine flow chart for inorganic respiratory impact

category, the second important impact found. The main causes
associated with this impact are:
• Up to 67.3% is contributed by the burning of fuels in the
transport stage.
• Packaging glass production.
• Irrigation process in vineyards.

45
A single score analysis for each main life cycle stage, Wine
production, wine bottle production and transport was then
produced and results can be seen in Figure 4 of Appendix C. In
other words, this single score assessment produces the overall
impact of each aspect. Chiefly, transport by container ship is the
most harmful, probably due to the large transport distances from
France to Sweden. Transport is then followed by wine production
and glass production. It is worth noting that the fossil fuels impact
category remains similar in all the stages, while respiratory
inorganics and climate change categories make the difference in
transport and wine production respectively.

Of further accord, it can be noted that the greatest impact to

climate change is produced in the wine production itself. At the top
of the hierarchy, the output of one litre of wine produces an impact
holding 81.5% of the impacts associated to climate aspects. Once
again, as well, the wine bottle assembly and container ship
process then affix relatively significant impacts. These results can
be seen in Figure 5 of Appendix C for additional support.

According to ISO, weighting should not be used if the goals of an

LCA are to compare two alternative products. (Bauman et al.,
2004) However, in this case there is no comparison of LCA
objectives and therefore weighting was used to determine which
parameters create the greatest environmental and human health
consequences. As mentioned previously, the egalitarian version of
EcoIndicator 99 provides weightings of its own accord, giving
maximum precedence to the cultural and environmental effects.

46
Why the Wine Industry Should Care About Global Warming

The first international Global Warming and Wine conference

was held on March 24-25 in Barcelona, Spain. Following a
welcome speech by host Pancho Campo of the Wine Academy of
Spain-urging the gathered 100 or so academics, winemakers and
journalists to spread the word about the issues surrounding global
warming and climate change-the conference officially began with a
discussion by Professor Bernard Seguin, a climate change
specialist with France's INRA (National Institute for Agricultural
Research).

"Climate change is natural; a greenhouse effect is natural, and it is

increasing only at a small level," said Seguin. "We can see the
consequences not with our eyes so much as with statistical
models," tracing the influence of man upon climate from the 19th
century's industrial age. Seguin asserted that the hand of man, via
the conversion of forest to arable land and the increase of animal
husbandry, initiated a rise in methane gas levels in our
atmosphere, which preceded the industrial age. This has paved
the way for a rise in carbon dioxide levels, although from the
beginning of the 20th century there's been a very slight,
approximately 1 degree, warming.

"If you increase carbon dioxide (CO2), you increase the rate of
photosynthesis. If the phenology of budburst shifts, it will affect the
end quality; veraison will begin in the beginning of July." Seguin
concluded that total warming is greater over continents, hence, the
greater effect upon the Northern Hemisphere vs. the Southern
Hemisphere. Western Europe winter warming will increase 1 to 2
degrees in France and Spain, 3 to 4 in summer, excepting
Portugal: "It will be difficult to survive in central Spain."
47
Seguin noted that Alsace has seen a rise in alcohol level of 2
degrees Celsius over the past three decades, with harvest shifting
from October 1 to September 1. Projections for France by the end
of the 21st century have three weeks more advanced maturing
than what we see currently. With increasingly milder winters,
dormancy will begin earlier as will the ripening rate. Oceanic
events, such as the slowing of the Gulf Stream, will have a greater
impact upon global warming than atmospheric events (such as the
emission of greenhouse gases).

What Seguin did make clear is that there's no turning back: "If we
emit less, there will be more warming; if we emit more, there will
be more warming," he warned.

Sorting out the increase

Seguin's view was echoed by other speakers, including Dr. Xavier

Sort of Torres Estates who demonstrated the far greater impact
of continued climate change upon his native Catalonia compared
to California. "A 1.5-6.2 degree increase is expected for Catalonia,
with a great deal of heterogeneity appropriate to a widely varying
topography and climate. This region will have a widening variance
based upon the season: winter and summer will see greater
change than spring and autumn."

Using four different map indices to demonstrate, Sort showed

climate change in Catalonia from 2000 to 2100. Most showed that
the two-thirds of the region located closest to the coast will have a
high increase in temperatures. In spring there would be no drop in
temperature while there will be a reduction in the number of total
rainfall days and concentrate, yet a similar rainfall total in fewer
days. This effect would lead to an increase in floods and,

48
subsequently, erosion. The initial vegetation period would advance
by one to two months. With a greater water deficit for an area
already suffering, Sort recommended high-efficiency irrigation
systems in areas not currently being irrigated.

To this, president of the Spanish Federation of Enology

Associations, Vincente Sanchez, implored, "I'm concerned
about the rise in temperature but also about the control of water.
That's the major problem we face: we'll have to distribute it fairly."
Castilla-La Mancha, the region Sanchez is from, is in danger of
fast becoming a desert: the area has experienced severe drought
conditions for three years. Urging that this may be a way to
increase grape quality, he said, "It's not profitable any longer to
over-water as in years past if we want to grow high-quality grapes.
From an oenological point of view, we'll have to use technological
methods useful for Europe and not the New World. Reverse
osmosis to remove ethanol may or may not be an advantage, but
it's better to make decisions in the vineyard to solve this problem.

"Climate change will lead to a 15 percent depletion of water

resources around 2030 if we consider only a 1 degree increase,"
Sanchez added. "With a 2.5 degree increase of temperature, there
will be a 17 percent depletion of water by 2060 and an 8 percent
drop in overall wine production." Sanchez cited the factor of
population growth having tripled in the past four decades as
impoverishing the earth, and that the poorer regions of the world
are those least prepared yet most affected by global warming. "If
we manage to get the U.S. (the leading contributor to greenhouse
gases) to ratify the Kyoto Protocol tomorrow, we'll still see the
effects from before this for another 150 years." He argued that 2
percent of the gross domestic product of developed countries and
5 percent of undeveloped countries will have to be allocated to the
49
adaptation of climate change in order to adequately stave off its
effects. "Solutions must be applied today so that our grandchildren
benefit," he concluded.

50
ALTERNATIVES

ECO-WINE INVESTIGATION RESULTS

Life Cycle Assessment: Wine vs. Eco-Wine 20

After investigating the results for impacts produced with regular
wine production, the assessment of the similarities and differences
of a theoretical eco-wine production was then conducted. First of
all, Figure 1 in Appendix D shows the life cycle of the normal wine
production stage. According to Figure 1 in Appendix D, irrigation is
the worst process in the wine production, with 29,2% rated by the
single score of the overall wine production process. It is followed
by Pesticides production with 9.92%.
One of the typical differences between wine and eco-wine is that
the later does not use pesticides and fertilizers in the vineyard
activities. In this case, both substances sum to 23.83% of the
overall impact. It is assumed that all changes in the eco-wine
production will refer again only to vineyard activities.

Hereafter, in order to be able to create an equivalent model for

eco-wine, it is assumed that eco-wine fertilizers are replaced with
the same amount of compost, while pesticides are totally
removed. Biodiversity and pest management by natural bug
predators would be developed instead.

The compost use effect then totals to only 2.92% with the analysis
of single scoring of the total eco-wine production stage, which
means a reduction of nearly 20%.
On the other hand, this investigation focuses primarily on the
impact in only the production of eco-wine and tests should be
subsequently run on the overall wine life cycle. According to
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Figure 3 in Appendix D and Figure 2 of Appendix C, the output of
1L of wine based on single scoring analysis sums up to only
32.5% of the overall impact, compared to 37,2% from producing
common wine.

CONCLUSIONS

In regards to the aims set out at the beginning of the study, the
following results were
Obtained from the research the crucial activities, and thus the
most significant impacts were identified.
The conclusions that are drawn from the results are outlined as
follows:
• Fossil fuel impact category has, by far, the most significant
impact.
• Recycling produces a positive effect.
• The three stages (wine production, glass production and
transport) have similar overall impacts.
• Transportation creates the largest impact between the three
stages. However, impacts from transportation are relative to
distances. In this case, wine bottles are transported from
France to Sweden, but this does not always hold true in
every case but only for the given specifications. Therefore,
transport should not be our main goal when trying to
decrease the wine’s life cycle impacts.
• On the other hand, packaging glass production has a
significant impact. Nevertheless, most of the wine bottles
are recycled at their end of life which alleviates this problem
by balancing the impacts.

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• In conclusion, efforts should focus on environmental
impacts associated with the wine production (grape
harvesting and winery activities).

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Wine vs. Eco-Wine production analysis:
• In the previous chapter differences between normal wine
and eco-wine have been analysed. The results confirm that
eco-wine is slightly better than normal wine. However, the
assumptions made may not be accurate. It is most likely
that higher amounts of compost have to be used in order to
achieve the same fertilizing efficiency. Besides, some other
kind of inputs apart from natural pest predators could be
needed to control pests.
• Ecological wine, although not proven to hold the greatest
decrease in impacts to the environment, holds high regard
in its attempt to alleviate the impacts. The process seems
to be more of a ‘labour of love’ by the vineyard and winery
owners, and therefore embraces a special classification for
the exclusive wine connoisseur.

In spite of a wide range of results obtained from the project, there

still remain a few unanswered questions. These questions are as
follows based on the study: Is it possible to classify one specific
activity which definitely reduces all environmental impacts, or is
there only an allocation of the problem?

Would it be necessary to further define the extent of the positive

and negative effects associated with changing inputs/outputs of
any process in the wine production? That is, how do different
values effect the overall life cycle assessment?

It is rather surprising to distinguish that the processes associated

with the winery and vineyard activities influence the climate
change at a higher level than the transport phase, associated with
consuming much more fossil fuels.
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