Sustentabilidade e Turismo

That wine is very important in Portugal is bewond question, but do you know the challenges of sustainability in traditional wine making? 

Nowadays, we are increasingly confronted with this very important term, but little is known about it. In the case of grape harvesting and wine tasting, sustainability is little talked about, as, being a very traditional area, it is reluctant to change. Therefore, wine makers are only now beginning to address environmental, social and economic issues in their businesses. 

In vineyards, there are many residues (stalks) that are generated and that often go to waste. Furthermore, there is a difficulty in recycling the bottles used in wine tastings. As these represent the two main problems in this sector, we carried out research in order to find possible solutions to them.

With this, we discovered that the stalk of the grapes is often used as fertilizer or, in longer processes, as fertilizer; it is also possible to create the famous drink: bagaço. As for bottles, we found two examples: one of the wine producer “Soalheiro”, who has developed a bottle with a new shape using 19% less glass, which reduces the carbon footprint, facilitates storage and will save the company an estimated annual amount of over 50 tons of glass; the other refers to a British company that has adopted cardboard bottles, these being made of 94% recycled paper, weighing close to 80 grams and being 100% recyclable. 

These solutions, although they may seem small, have a huge impact on the environment and should serve as an incentive to other companies to adopt sustainable measures. If you are interested in this topic, don’t miss our next post where we will talk to a Boutique Winery about it!

Authors: Ana Beatriz, Ana Isabel, Juliana Barbosa, Ivo Soares & Cristiana Delgado (LGAT – diurno)