Woke wines taste just fine – from paper bottles to vegan prosecco

There was a time when to be a bona fide wine buff meant knowing your Bordeaux from your Burgundy.

But forget talk of decanters and corkscrews. Because with young drinkers becoming ever more eco-conscious, the hot topic is wines made with the health of the planet in mind, and with demand booming, the market is growing fast. Welcome to the world of ‘woke’ wines.

With glass and transport accounting for at least 50 per cent of the industry’s carbon footprint, woke producers are opting for environmentally friendly packaging.

This week, Essex-based winemaker The English Vine became the first in the world to commit to switching all its glass bottles for paper ones.

It’s not just the packaging. Vegan wine lovers are driving demand, too. The Delevingne sisters Cara, Poppy and Chloe recently launched their own brand of vegan-friendly Prosecco, and actress Cameron Diaz boasts her own ‘clean’ wine brand in the U.S., called Aveline.

But do woke wines taste as good as their old-fashioned counterparts? Our wine expert HELEN McGINN picks some of the best of the sustainable bunch …

BOX WINE I’D ACTUALLY DRINK

Domaine Jones Grenache Gris 2.25l Bag in Box, £38.50, bibwine.co.uk

For years bag-in-box wine had a bad reputation as what was inside was sometimes undrinkable. 

But for the woke wine lover, boxed wine offers one of the most sustainable packaging alternatives, with a carbon footprint ten times lower than glass. 

Now companies like this are putting properly good wines inside them.

This one is from Languedoc in France and although not yet certified organic, the grapes are sustainably grown by winemaker Katie Jones. A fruity, floral gem that’ll stay fresh once opened for up to six weeks in the fridge.

VINO VERDICT: 8/10

CELEBRITY VEGAN BUBBLES

Della Vite Prosecco, £19.95, dellavite.com

It’s no surprise that when the party-loving Delevingne sisters decided to turn their hand to wine, they went straight to Prosecco. 

And this vegan-friendly offering (in most wines, gelatine or fish is used in the clarification process) is pretty good quality, as it should be at that price. 

Made by the Biasiotto family in the Veneto region, the winery is mostly solar-powered and online purchases include a donation to MyTrees charity to protect five trees. 

To drink, it’s fresh and frothy with soft pear fruits. Delightful.

VINO VERDICT: 7/10

SAVING THE OCEANS

Hidden Sea Chardonnay, 

£8, Co-op

This Aussie wine brand is on a mission to remove plastic from the world’s oceans and for every bottle sold ten plastic bottles are removed and recycled from the sea. 

The ReSea Project hopes to remove and recycle one billion plastic bottles by 2030.

The label, which is laser-printed using organic water-based inks, depicts a fossilised whale found underneath The Hidden Sea’s vineyards in South Australia’s Limestone Coast and inside the bottle is a peach of a wine, all tropical fruits with a touch of oak adding oomph to the flavours.

VINO VERDICT: 7/10

 

SWEET TASTE OF GOING ORGANIC

Castellore Organic Prosecco, 

£7.49, Aldi

The organic wine selection from this discount retailer is a bit hit and miss but the hits are smashing. 

This one’s a real favourite, not to mention an absolute steal. 

Simply packaged, it’s labelled as Extra Dry, meaning there’s a little more sweetness to it compared with most but to be honest, that just makes it even more drinkable.

There are no nasty chemicals used in the vineyards so you can sip this in the garden and feel as smug as Tom and Barbara from The Good Life especially if you grow your own veg, too.

VINO VERDICT: 8/10

PAPER BOTTLES FOR YOUR TIPPLE

No.1 Paper Bottle Bacchus 2020, £13.99, theenglishvine.co.uk

Founder Neil Walker’s mission is to move all the English wine he sells via his website away from glass within five years.

By launching England’s first wine in a paper bottle (above), he’s walking the walk. 

The packaging is five times lighter and with a carbon footprint 84 per cent lower than a glass bottle.

Inside, is a deliciously crisp white made from Bacchus grapes grown in Essex and it’s brilliant. 

Just the kind of English hedgerow-scented white I want when the sun’s out and the crisps are on the table.

VINO VERDICT: 10/10

EMPOWERING WINE IS ALL HEART

Great Heart Chenin Blanc 2020, £14.99, Waitrose

The idea for this wine came about during the pandemic when South African vineyard owners Chris and Andrea Mullineux saw how hard their team were working under the challenging circumstances.

They wanted to reward them properly and so Great Heart was set up, a staff empowerment company aimed at improving the livelihoods of all employees and their families. 

All profits go straight to the staff who own the brand as well as make the wine.

And fabulous it is too, rich and zesty with lemon peel flavours.

VINO VERDICT: 8/10

PHIL’S FLAT WINE IS A BELTER

Phillip Schofield Organic Nero Di Troia, £9.99, amazon.co.uk

TV host and self-confessed wine aficionado Schofield launched his own range of boxed wines last year, showing his sustainable side.

Now he’s launched a wine in a flat 100 per cent recycled plastic bottle and it’s a belter. 

With a lower carbon footprint than glass, it also allows the producer to fit more wine on every pallet shipped, cutting environmental costs further.

Made from the little-known Nero di Troia grape grown in Puglia, in southern Italy, this gorgeous organic mellow red is packed with rich plum and blackcurrant flavours. 

The bottle’s an odd shape, but once you sip what’s inside, you’ll soon forget!

VINO VERDICT: 9/10

VEGAN CAN IS BRILLIANT

Nania’s Rosé Spritzer, 6 x 250ml, £24, naniasvineyard.co.uk

When James Bayliss-Smith and Shelley Nania inherited a 50-year-old vine in the garden of their house in Bristol, it inspired them to create their own wine brand.

Their canned vegan-friendly wine is made from Essex-grown Rondo grapes, blended with Glastonbury spring water and infused with a raspberry shrub to make a bonkers but brilliant Rosé Spritzer.

Cans have a much lower carbon footprint than glass and are infinitely recyclable. And even the labels are made using a compostable corn starch wrap. The wine’s lightly carbonated and loaded with red berry flavours and a touch of sweetness. Joyous.

VINO VERDICT: 7/10

Helen’s book, The Knackered Mother’s Wine Guide, is out now (£8.99, Bluebird).