"It’s estimated that almost half of a wine bottle’s carbon footprint comes from the production and mishandling of packaging."
Wonderful Wine does a great job in addressing this side of the issue--some of which can be seen in the section above!
The lightweight glass used for the bottles doesn’t only take less water to produce; through production and transport, using lightweight glass bottles also reduces carbon emissions by approximately 26% overall. The entire process results in a 20% energy reduction.
Before the wine is even bottled, it is shipped in flexitanks before being bottled in a location closer to the point of sale. This is beneficial in two ways. First, more than twice as much wine can be shipped per container, reducing CO2 emissions by 40% compared to standard shipping methods. Second, since the product is in its final form for a smaller distance, damage and waste are minimized.
Thermal blankets are used instead of energy-devouring and CO2-producing refrigerated trucks. These also provide an extra layer of protection!
The grapes used are farmed without artificial chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides. Since grapes don't require as much care as other crops, it is typical for fertilizer use to be limited. However, adding limestone to the soil as a supplement decreases the acidity and lets natural nutrients prosper for high-quality grapes and strengthened soil.
Unfortunately, the same transparency is simply not there for the wine production process, which also accounts for a big portion of the industry's carbon footprint. Since the farming and ingredients are clean, I'm still giving half a planet for the wine-half of production.
The Wonderful Wine Co. is a brand under Winc, a wine-subscription company. They own each part of the production processes, ensuring knowledge of practices at every step, as well as being able to deliver at a low price point.
While Winc's Sustainable collection only currently offers twelve varieties of wine and cider, 3/8 of the bottles I have received recently are listed as sustainable. This occurred without me having ever demonstrating any preferences on my account. To me, that shows that Winc is making an effort to market these brands.
Upon further reading, I discovered they are committed to increasing the number of wines produced from "sustainably-farmed" (as deemed by the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance) grapes to 75% by 2021, up from 60% in 2019.