Bogle Family Vineyards is taking another step toward sustainability by moving to lighter glass bottles for its wines.
The Clarksburg winery is the largest winery in the region and is on track to produce 3 million cases in 2022. Bogle said that cutting bottle weight by 10% will reduce its packaging weight annually by 2,235 tons starting next year.
“Quality has always been associated with big, heavy bottles,” said Jody Bogle, vice president of consumer relations with the winery, which is transitioning from its Bogle Vineyards name to Bogle Family Vineyards.
“This is in no way a substandard bottle,” she said. The lighter bottles have a slightly lower material cost, but the big savings is in less shipping weight.
“It adds up,” Bogle said. "It was stunning to see what a small change would make."
The change will occur in phases with the first lighter bottles being featured in Bogle’s chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, essential red, pinot noir and merlot. The change to lighter glass for those Bogle wines will cut weight by 1,695 tons.
It will also cut the weight of its premium Juggernaut brand, with an additional 540-ton weight reduction with new cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir bottles, the company said.
“Our family has a commitment to sustainability, in the vineyards and in the winery. Now we are going to take that to the bottles,” she said.
Bogle already follows state rules for a sustainable winegrowing program, and it is a Certified California Sustainable Winery by the California Sustainable Winegrowers Alliance for its energy-conscious, water-reuse and trash-recycling programs.
Bogle was founded in 1978. Its operations are 100% in Clarksburg, where it has 180 full-time employees.
