Winery Switches To Lighter Bottle, Raises Price $6

Citing an urgent responsibility to reduce its carbon footprint, a Napa Valley producer announced Wednesday that it will move its flagship Cabernet from a 1,100-gram bottle to a 480-gram bottle, a change that saves 31 cents per unit and raises the retail price from $78 to $84, sources confirmed.

The announcement ran 900 words. It uses the word sustainability 14 times and does not mention the price.

“We went through every piece of this supply chain and the glass was where we could make the biggest difference, full stop,” said general manager Theo Barlow, adding that the winery had spent three years on the transition and expected some resistance. “Does it feel like the old bottle when you pick it up? No. We’ve gotten that feedback and I take it seriously. But the people giving us that feedback are not the people we are making this decision for. And I’d note the new bottle cost considerably more to develop, which is reflected in where we’ve landed on price.”

The winery has not changed its cardboard, its capsule, its shipping method or its distributor.

At press time, the winery had announced a reserve tier bottled in the original glass at $145.