A Marlborough winemaker has dropped glass bottles in favour of plastic ones, citing environmental concerns and convenience.
Peter Yealands, of Yealands Estate, has released the vineyard's first batch of its plastic-bottled Full Circle sauvignon blanc, The Press has reported.
Aiming to own the world's most sustainable winery, Yealands says the bottles use 19% less energy to produce than their glass equivalents, and weigh only 51 grams, as opposed to 500g.
With an 18-month best-before date, Yealands highlighted the benefit of the tougher, lighter material for campers, picnickers, festival-goers and boaties.
"Just think of the absolute convenience of plastic. It is not going to suit everyone, but I think for the environmentally conscious person who loves a nice wine, it will work well."
Within 10 years, more than half of his sauvignon blanc could be bottled in plastic, with the technology better suited to wines drunk young, he has told the paper.
Another of Yealand's green initiatives involves using miniature sheep to control weeds between vines.
