Boisset Family Estates Will Ship its Beaujolais Nouveau in PET for First Time

Each year, on the third Thursday of November, French vintner Boisset Family Estates flies thousands of bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau to eager wine lovers around the world, a harvest tradition celebrating the arrival of the refreshing, fruity wines.

This year, however, Boisset is breaking with tradition. Instead of packaging its Beaujolais Nouveau wines from the historic wineries of Mommessin and Bouchard Aîné & Fils in glass bottles, the progressive winemaker is using plastic.

It’s a move designed to protect the environment and provide “green” Beaujolais Nouveau enthusiasts with guilt-free pleasure. According to Boisset Family Estates, a case of wine in glass bottles weighs 38 pounds. In plastic, a case weighs just 22 pounds, a weight savings of more than 40 percent. That equates to a significantly smaller carbon footprint and a reduction in air freight costs. (The first bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau are always rushed over by air, according to the company.)

For the new plastic bottles, Boisset Family Estates has chosen Constar International, a leader in high-barrier PET packaging technology, to supply the technology and pre-forms used to make its new 750ml plastic bottles.

At first glance, the bottles are nearly identical to glass. However, these lightweight plastic vessels contain a proprietary oxygen scavenging technology called MonOxbar™ that keeps oxygen from permeating into the bottle, thereby protecting the flavor, aroma, and deep, rich color of the wine inside.

Source: Constar International