the essential
The world of the wine market is at a crossroads. Differentiation is important to stand out from the crowd and develop new customers. Cardboard bottles work on this lever of innovation combined with an eco-responsible approach. In Aude, in Saint-André-de-Roquelongue, the La Bouysse estate is part of this approach.
Martine Pagès has run the Bouysse estate, in Saint-André de Roquelongue, with her brother Christophe Molinier for around thirty years. Keen to develop her wine estate of around forty hectares in the Corbières, this oenologist is today a pioneer in a new type of wine packaging: cardboard bottles. Bag-in-Box (BIB) bricks have been known for many years, but the marketing of wine in cardboard bottles heralds a small revolution.
“I believe in it a lot”
“A friend one day introduced me to Thomas de Lagarde, a wine wholesaler based in Draguignan, who was looking for organic wine in bulk,” says Martine Pagès. Very quickly, the latter told me about his approach to putting these bottles on the market, and I immediately joined. It's a great opportunity for us, I believe in it a lot and I think it will bring us new customers. A nice meeting with this merchant who explains his approach: “I have been working in the world of wine for 25 years, first in California, and now in Provence. I have always considered that wine needs innovation in order to invent new things and appeal to consumers who are evolving. For several years, I have been looking for eco-responsible solutions and I came across some English people who have developed the manufacture of this cardboard bottle: Frugalpac.
DR
The bottle is assembled from two half-shells of carbon paper, which encapsulate a polypropylene pocket card. The Frugalpac uses a screw cap and has the same dimensions as a classic Bordeaux. The bag is made of a material similar to that used for the BIB, the reliability of which is proven. It took two years to develop the packaging process and adapt a production tool to the constraints of this new container.
-Five times lighter than a glass bottle
The cardboard bottle has many advantages. With an innovative character which will undoubtedly create a buzz in the coming months, this packaging contributes to saving the planet by reducing the carbon footprint of wine bottles by 84% compared to traditional glass bottles. These Frugalpac bottles are made from 94% recycled cardboard and weigh around 82 grams, so they are five times lighter than a glass bottle. They use four times less water to be manufactured. It is also important to point out that the bottle is 100% recyclable.
These Frugalpacs are intended for rather rapid consumption because they have an estimated shelf life of just over 12 months, but 80% of wines are now drunk after their release on the market. Certainly, the glass bottle has advantages. Elegant, it keeps wine for a long time, but it also has disadvantages: it is heavy and requires a lot of energy to design. In addition, it is now only 60% recycled. Nearly 40% of the wine carbon footprint comes from the glass bottle and its logistics (21% for production, 19% for logistics).
The Aude winemaker admits that the cost of this cardboard bottle remains a little higher than that of glass. Also, she agrees that glass bottles should be reserved for high-end wines. The three references from the domain which were packaged last December meet this criterion. Martine Pagès is primarily targeting the Scandinavian market and thinks it will be popular. From February 10 to 12, during the official launch of the Wine Paris show, she will present her three Aude Hauterive IGPs from Domaine la Bouysse along with two Côtes-Du-Rhône, a Côte de Provence and a Bandol, on the same stand with Thomas by Lagarde. According to a recent LinkedIn survey, 78% of people say they are willing to try.
