Our initial carbon footprint reduction plan highlighted bulk shipping as a promising opportunity to significantly reduce emissions. Since then, we’ve been working hard to increase the amount of wine we ship to the UK in bulk for packing.
In our most recent sustainability report, we shared encouraging progress. This included identifying 12 of our bestselling wines and assessing the potential carbon savings if they were shipped in bulk. As noted in the report, the next phase involved engaging in commercial discussions.
We’re now pleased to update members on a pilot project with one of our key suppliers in the south of France. We’ve begun trialling bulk shipments of wines they currently bottle for us in France. Even on this relatively short journey, we’ve identified a potential carbon saving of 36% per container shipped.
More choice of format from bottle to Bag-in-Box
We had originally planned to ship five wines in bulk from this producer: two reds before Christmas, and whites and a rosé in early 2026, using the new 2025 vintage. Our UK bottling partner can pack these wines into a range of lower-carbon formats: lightweight glass bottles, half bottles, magnums and Bag-in-Box – with the potential for other sustainable packaging formats to follow. One additional benefit is flexibility: a single bulk load (whether 24,000 or 12,000 litres) can be split across multiple packaging formats, offering members more choice than would otherwise be possible.
Bag-in-box and more
Shop all bag-in-box
Tablas Creek Patelin de Tablas Rouge Paso Robles 2023 Bag-in-Box (3 litre)
Côtes de Provence Rosé Le Daguet, Château Pas du Cerf Bag-in-Box (3 litre)
Picpoul de Pinet, Domaine Félines Jourdan 2025 Bag-in-Box (3 litres)
Côtes-du-Rhône, Famille Jaume Bag-in-Box (3 litre)
The Society's White Burgundy 2024 Bag-in-Box (2.25 litre)
On Point Australian Malbec 2024 Bag-in-Box (3 litre)
On Point Australian Chenin Blanc 2024 Bag-in-Box (3 litre)
Château Pesquié Le Paradou Cinsault 2022 Bag-in-Box (3 litre)
The Society's Beaujolais-Villages 2024 Bag-in-Box (2.25 litre)
The Society's Portuguese Red, Península de Setúbal 2024 Bag-in-Box (3 litre)
That said, as newcomers to bulk shipping, we’ve encountered a few unexpected technical challenges. When we began this project, we already understood that some wines wouldn’t be suitable for bulk shipment – very small-production wines, those that require maturation, or wines subject to regulations mandating bottling in-region. What we’re now discovering is how the winemaker’s production choices can also affect a wine’s bulk-shipping viability.
Our buying team generally leaves winemaking decisions to the producers, as we believe this results in more distinctive wines – true expressions of grape and region. As member and press reviews show, this approach works well for us. However, it also means that we don’t prescribe winemaking techniques as strictly as others might for wines made to a tight retailer specification. This creates challenges when bulk shipping, where the risk isn’t just a few bottles being affected by cork taint – but potentially losing the entire 24,000 litres due to refermentation or microbiological spoilage.
And so, in practice, only one of the two red wines we planned to ship this year was technically suitable for bulk transport. It passed all quality and stability checks, including pH level and final filtration tests. The second wine, however, proved more complex and while the challenges could be overcome, they would result in changes to wine style – something we want to avoid.
First red available in time for Christmas
Members can expect to see Saint-Chinian, Domaine Raynier 2024 (a Wine Championship winner this year) from the pilot project available before Christmas, in both lightweight bottles and Bag-in-Box. Check the bottling details on the back label to see whether it’s UK-bottled or bottled at source.
Assuming this initial shipment proceeds smoothly, we expect to bulk ship three additional wines early in the new year. Also, look out for the second vintage of one of last summer’s most popular wines – soon to be available in Bag-in-Box for the first time thanks to our progress with bulk shipping.
Thanks to members’ enthusiasm for wines in alternative formats and their support for our sustainability initiatives, we are increasing our range of wines offered in Bag-in-Box. They’re great for entertaining and are much easier to wrap than a bottle too!
