The impacts of wine
Virgin Wines recognises that a responsible approach to drinking is important and believes that “Drinking is only fun when you don’t overdo it”. The company actively promotes the Drink Aware logo and will be addressing ways of further promoting responsible drinking in the future.
A significant environmental impact of Virgin Wines is the use of water in the production of wine, specifically through irrigation of the vines. It’s estimated that it takes 120 litres of water to produce a 125 ml glass of wine. French growers only use natural irrigation and other Virgin Wines’ growers have installed water-recycling processes to save on the water they draw from the local community. They are looking to encourage more growers to do the same.
Virgin Wines has used its influence to ensure that its distribution partner, HDN, has worked hard to create an Environmental Policy focusing on carbon reduction and other negative impacts. Its efforts were recognised at the Interactive Media in Retail Group’s Online Green Awards where it was awarded Large Supplier of the Year for 2007 and 2008.
Virgin Wines also has a strong connection with forests through its use of cork. In contrast to the issues faced by Virgin Books, using cork for wine bottles harvested in a sustainable manner has social benefits as outlined in a report by WWF (2006)5
of times. Virgin Wines is working hard to understand both sides of the debate so it can make an informed judgement on this issue.
Since Virgin Wines works predominantly with smaller growers to source its wines, it supports those with limited marketing budgets and purchasing power, while giving them exposure and enhancing their return.
Internet shopping and extensive, sophisticated supply chains allow customers to shop with ease for products from all over the world, often without the knowledge of where they come from or how they are made. Virgin Wines believes that transparency is vital to know more about its wine so that its customers can make informed decisions about the type of products that they buy. For that reason Virgin Wines offers its customers the chance to engage with winemakers both online and at wine-tasting events. Virgin Wines also runs regular competitions, giving its customers the chance to win visits to its vineyards. In the future it plans to provide more information to customers by presenting individual profiles for each of its winemakers and their wineries in the WineZone section of its website and on its Facebook page6
. . Up to two million hectares
of cork forest in the Western Mediterranean and North Africa could be lost if the industry moves away from cork stoppers (which accounts for 70% of the cork market). The report also claims that the loss of the forests would lead to the loss of over 62,000 jobs. Others argue however, that aluminium screw caps are very energy efficient when recycled as they save around 95% of the energy used to manufacture them and can be recycled an infinite number
Virgin Wines’ ambition is to increase the range of organic wines it carries, and it plans to achieve this by supporting a number of its growers through the complex and expensive process of becoming organic by guaranteeing to purchase their wine and thereby mitigating any risk to them. In addition, Virgin Wines is working with a cooperative of growers in the Cape in South Africa in order to develop a range of Fairtrade wines whose premium prices will provide the extra funds needed to support the development of a school classroom.
5. Cork Screwed? (May 2006) WWF (http://assets. panda.org/downloads/cork_rev12_print.pdf)
6. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/ Virgin-Wines/5499569908?ref=ts
Last year Virgin Wines sold around 13,000 bottles of organic wines and 25,000 bottles of Fairtrade wine
(July 2008 – June 2009).
Steve Grimley – one of Virgin Wines’ Australian winemakers
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