Ever wondered how much CO2 it takes to get the wine you are drinking to your lips?

Well it is quite staggering that the CIVB -

(Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vins de Bordeaux the governing body of Bordeaux wine)

- estimated that in 2008 the production, storage and delivery of Bordeaux wines in 2008 expended around 203,000 metric tons of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CE).

Ok, so what does a tonne of CO2 look like? Well check this pic out ....27 feet wide by 27 feet high by 27 feet deep.

So the CIVB have just set CO2 reduction targets. Plan Climat des vins de Bordeaux 2020 aims to cut this by 40,000 metric tons by 2020, a 20 per cent reduction.

The individual categories that make up the reduction plan are energy, transport, and materials.

In a nutshell - Thinner glass bottles and less packaging. Less road and air transport and more use of trains and shipping . More efficient use of vineyard machinery and better use of pruning (for heating etc).

This is all making me feel very guilty. According to a recent debunked sensationalist story I have just used enough fossil fuel to made a cup of tea by posting this article. Well my computer is certainly indirectly producing CO2 keeping my feet warm and simultaneously warming up a some techie's feet in a data centre in the USA. My way of offsetting my imprint is to recycle my wine bottles, which are then collected by a lorry and taken on a long CO2 intensive journey.

It is good to know these initiatives are out there, and it certainly makes me pause for thought before buying New World wine...but that same little thought, or neuron fire, also uses up energy and therefore ultimately ends up in carbon emissions along the chain, so my logic is not to think about it too much and enjoy buying a good Zinfandel.

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