London: how can wine contribute to the fight against the climate crisis?

Personalities from the world of wine such as the British journalist Jancis Robinson and the winemaker Miguel A. Torres recalled this Friday in London the important role that their industry can play in the fight against climate change, as well as the challenges that the global warming presents the product.

At a round table at the Spanish Embassy in Londonafter which Robinson – one of the most prestigious critics in the world – received the Torres & Earth award for her contribution to raising awareness about climate emergencyTorres – president of the family group that bears his last name – launched an unabashed appeal.

“(In Spain) we are not in the best position in terms of climate change. We have to react and adapt to the new situation”said the winemaker.

Torres explained how his company began years ago to buy vineyards at higher altitudes, in anticipation of the complications they anticipated: “And I’m happy, because it’s going faster than we thought.”.

In his opinion, there is a lot of work to be done in Spain, because “Most companies do not understand the dimension of the problem and are more concerned about financial issues.”.

War on glass bottles

For his part, Robinson praised the fact that Spain is already known for its abundance of varieties, and not for a few denominations, as until relatively recently.

“But now they all face the same challenges, particularly severe droughts and often very low prices.“, he pointed.

Despite this, he highlighted that some grapes such as Garnacha, Bobal or Monastrell are now beginning to get the recognition they deserve, which may be good for the future, since they are varieties that better tolerate high temperatures.

Robinson, who recognized Torres’ pioneering work in this fight, wages his particular fight against the emissions of the wine industry.

“At last, it seems the message is getting through to producers around the world that wine’s biggest contribution to the world’s carbon footprint is not in the winery or vineyard, but in the production and transportation of bottles.”he explained.

He reported that there is already a reduction in the average weight of the bottles (whose production and transportation implies greater emissions), but that the myth that the weight of the bottle is an indicator of the quality of the wine still needs to be put to rest.

For this reason, he advocated the use of other packaging for wine, such as cans or boxes, something that in countries like the United Kingdom or the Scandinavians is more developed.

“Glass is the ideal material to keep wine while it ages for a long time. But how many wines are consumed a week, or even a day, after being purchased? 90% or something like that. Why are we going to destroy the planet by putting everything in glass bottles?“, he asked himself.