Leonardo DiCaprio’s Vineyard Will Release ‘Green’ Bottles In New Eco Initiative
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8 months ago
The bottles come in 'every shade of green' in a bid to save discarded glass
What do the stars do when they’re not bringing stories to life on the big screen? Well, in the case of Leonardo DiCaprio, they help produce high calibre champagne in bottles made from discarded glass. Read on for the lowdown.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Vineyard Launches Champagne Bottles Made From Discarded Glass
‘Climate change is real, it is happening right now,’ said Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio. ‘It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.’ These words, spoken at the 2016 Academy Awards, cemented DiCaprio’s status as one of the industry’s most vocal supporter for climate action – a title that hasn’t faded in the eight years since his famous Oscar win. The next step in the actor’s sustainability journey takes place in France, where his vineyard announced plans to start releasing its Telmont champagne in multicoloured bottles in a bid to cut down on glass waste.
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With global CO2 emissions from glass production amounting to 95 million metric tons in 2022, the industry – which includes bottle-making for various vintage producers – is known for its high carbon footprint. French champagne, like wine, is largely kept in green bottles, but the shade of green varies from brand to brand (and sometimes even from bottle to bottle). And as bottle-making furnaces switch between colours, a considerable amount of ‘wrong-coloured’ glass is ultimately discarded.
Telmont, which DiCaprio acquired a stake in in 2022, plans to shake things up by boycotting the idea of a uniform range of bottles; instead, they will be producing a range housed in glass bottles that span from ‘green to cinnamon’ in colour. The brand, which aims to be the world’s first climate positive champagne house by 2030, is set to put around 193,000 bottles in varying shades of green on sale each year, starting in 2024.
‘Telmont has decided to use the glass produced during the transition between two different shades,’ Telmont shared in a recent Instagram post. ‘During a conventional colour transition in a glassmaker’s furnace, a certain amount of glass does not match chromatic standards. It’s this part of the production that Telmont has decided to use to reduce environmental impact. This choice will bring Telmont to develop a multitude of variations on the main Champagne colour transition. As a start, 193,000 bottles in shades ranging from green to cinnamon will be released each year.
‘It’s a breakthrough for our Maison and for the ecological transition,’ the brand continued. ‘Thanks to this innovative process, which relies on the expertise of Verallia, the European leader in glass packaging and a committed player, energy and resources will be saved. It is therefore a more virtuous production method with regard to environmental issues. “193,000 shades of green” also demonstrates Telmont’s ability to combine elegance and eco-responsibility. For our cuvées, we take what Nature has to offer. Each of our bottles, reflecting through its hue a nuance of our terroir, now tells a story – the story of our innovative ecological transition.’
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Telmont is already the creator of what it dubs the world’s lightest champagne bottle, which weighs in at 800g – making it approximately 35g lighter than a standard bottle. This new project, titled ‘193,000 Shades of Green’, forms part of the brand’s wider interest in eliminating unneeded packaging and transparent glass. It’s believed that it was Telmont’s strong sustainability credentials that encouraged DiCaprio to pursue an equity stake in the wine producer, which is based near Epernay in northern France.
‘For us, sustainability is not a limit or a constraint, but a ground for creativity and innovation,’ said Telmont president Ludoic du Plessis. ‘Every shade of green is a symbol of our commitment to the environment. ‘We’re not just changing the colour of our wine bottles, we’re trying to transform the wine industry one shade at a time in the name of Mother Nature.’
Featured image:Killers of the Flower Moon (c) Apple TV+
