Greener Planet Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

For some time now, I have been eyeing (and occasionally squeezing) these fancy plastic containers in Alko shops. With mixture of interest and suspicion. Why would French abandon the old glass bottles in favour of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) ones? No, I don’t believe PET itself is more environmentally friendly than glass. Especially here in Finland, where they don’t even bother to recycle the household plastics. (Yes it goes into mixed waste.) However, I do believe that lighter bottles can reduce the carbon footprint of wine by cutting the carbon cost of transport. I also believe that the bottle is “virtually unbreakable”: good news for festival goers, not that good news for the environment. But you can return the bottle to Alko and get your 40 cents back. At least, I hope the Alko guys know what to do with it.

With all this in mind, we decided to give this Cabernet Sauvignon from Languedoc-Rousillon a try. It is reasonably priced (by Finnish standards, that is: one-litre bottle costs €10.48). The label provides some friendly info for the arithmetically challenged:

This one-litre recyclable PET bottle contains 33% more wine than a standard 75 cl bottle.

Finally, the content. I couldn’t feel “blackcurrant and brambly notes” promised on the label but then I never do. What matters is that it is 100% unoaked Cabernet Sauvignon, which tastes like unoaked Cabernet Sauvignon. With a hint of antimony trioxide. (Just kidding. Even if it is there, I wouldn’t feel it anyway.) It is a good bottle of wine. When it’s finished I may even consider buying another one.