Grapes & wine: Emissions
The carbon cost of a bottle of wine
What this tab covers The greenhouse-gas footprint of the commodity at a global level, split by lifecycle phase: extraction (or farming), refining and processing, movement, usage, and recycling or end of life. Intensities are per unit of product; the global total combines intensity with world output. Also covers other environmental impacts and the main levers to cut emissions. Emission intensity 1.40 t CO2e per t range 1.4 (median) to 1.79 (mean); Clark et al. 2022: 1.72; Spanish wine EPD about 1.0 kg per 0.75 L bottle (1.36 t/t) · cradle-to-retail global median, GWP100 Global emissions per year 32.0 Mt CO2e per year 2024 · 1.4 t CO2e/t x about 22.6 Mt of wine (225.8 million hl); about 40 Mt at the 1.79 mean (indicative)Per t of wine at retail (about 1,330 bottles); cradle-to-retail. Intensity: Poore & Nemecek 2018 (Science), median stage values as tabulated by Our World in Data (indicative); Clark et al. 2022 (PNAS), via Our World in Data; HAproWINE EPD 2013. Global total: derived from OIV 2025 and Poore & Nemecek 2018.
Share of footprint by lifecycle phase
Extraction 36% Refining / processing 57% Movement 7%Footprint by lifecycle phase
| Phase | Intensity | Share | Main sources of emissions | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extraction | about 0.5 t CO2e/t: farm about 0.6, land-use change about -0.1 | 36% | vineyard diesel, fertiliser, sprays (many passes against mildew), irrigation | Vines are perennial, so the land-use term is slightly negative on average. | Poore & Nemecek 2018 (Science), median stage values as tabulated by Our World in Data (indicative) |
| Refining / processing | about 0.8 t CO2e/t: winery about 0.1, packaging about 0.7 | 57% | glass bottles (the biggest single item), winery cooling, fermentation CO2 (biogenic, not counted) | A Spanish EPD put winemaking and bottling at 0.98 kg CO2e of a 1.02 kg bottle footprint. | Poore & Nemecek 2018 (Science), median stage values as tabulated by Our World in Data (indicative); HAproWINE EPD 2013 |
| Movement | about 0.1 t CO2e/t | 7% | sea and road freight; heavy glass | Bulk shipping in flexitanks and bottling near market cuts freight weight sharply. | Poore & Nemecek 2018 (Science), median stage values as tabulated by Our World in Data (indicative) |
| Usage | near zero; chilling only | – | fridges | Distribution and consumption were 0.6% of the Spanish EPD. | HAproWINE EPD 2013 |
| Recycling / end of life | about 0.03 kg per bottle (3% of the Spanish EPD) | – | glass recycling or landfill; pomace | Recycled glass needs less furnace energy; pomace goes to distilling, grape-seed oil and compost. | HAproWINE EPD 2013 |
Other environmental impacts
Table grapes: Poore & Nemecek put berries and grapes at about 1.1 t CO2e/t (median) and 1.53 (mean); Clark et al. 2022 report 8.3 for grapes, which reflects some air-freighted fruit. Vineyards are among the most heavily sprayed crops, and irrigation strains water in Maharashtra, Chile and Peru.
Levers to cut emissions
- Lighter bottles (about 400 g instead of 500-600 g), bag-in-box and cans
- Ship in bulk flexitanks and bottle near market
- Renewable power for winery cooling and grape cold stores
- Ship table grapes by sea rather than air
India
Most Indian grapes are table grapes eaten at home or shipped by sea to Europe in reefers from Nashik via JNPT, so air freight is minor. Pack-house pre-cooling and cold storage run on a grid at about 0.7 t CO2 per MWh (CEA, indicative).
Emission figures are indicative global averages from the life-cycle studies named; actual footprints vary widely by site, energy mix and method.