Hawke's Bay wineries are unlikely to embrace what some overseas winemakers are introducing to reduce their carbon footprint - plastic bottles.
While agreeing there was a place for the plastic wine bottle, Hawke's Bay Winegrowers Association chairman Nicholas Buck said that place was unlikely to be the Bay - or the
bulk of the New Zealand wine industry.
"I've not heard of anyone around here taking it up - it's fairly low on the radar."
Mr Buck said he had seen wine in 750ml plastic bottles on supermarket shelves in the UK, and said they were effectively "value orientated" lines.
He said most Hawke's Bay wines did not fit that category and were premium lines where presentation was important.
In terms of marketing there were some negative connotations associated with plastic, given it was viewed as "flimsy".
The main push by some wineries overseas, and by at least one in Marlborough, was that plastic bottles were light and reduced the carbon footprint when it came to shipping wine to markets.
However, Mr Buck said the carbon footprint issue had also been taken up by some manufacturers of wine bottles and lighter-weight ones had begun to be produced.
There was a place for plastic bottles in terms of convenience when picnicking or backpacking, and in the airline industry when weight carrying was a factor.
Air New Zealand had led the development of small, strong, plastic bottles which were used by companies it contracted out to bottle premium wines for in-flight supply.
