Assessment of the environmental impacts associated with vineyards and winemaking. A case study in mountain areas

Mountain wines produced in specific mountain areas and following singular practices have gained popularity over the last few decades. During this time, the environmental impacts associated with the food and beverage manufacturing sector have become a question of interest. However, the environmental impacts derived from the production of this peculiar wine have scarcely been studied until now. A mountain winery in north Spain has been analyzed as representative of PDO “Cangas” winemaking by means of life cycle assessment (LCA). High-quality inventory data for one year of operation was obtained directly from this facility and two steps have been considered, the vineyard and the winery phases. The main factors involved in grape cultivation and wine production were included. In common with standard winemaking processes, the use of fertilizers and the production of glass bottles were the principal hotspots in the grape cultivation and wine production phases, respectively. Additionally, in the winery here evaluated, waste management also contributed notably to several impacts, mainly due to the employment of traditional practices such as the incineration in situ of vineyard pruning wastes. The carbon footprint obtained for “Cangas” PDO wine was 2.35 kg of CO₂eq per 0.75-l bottle, a value within the range reported in the literature for different wines around the world (0.2–2.5 kg CO₂eq per bottle). A sensitivity analysis has shown that changes in vineyard productivity and the amount of fertilizers applied to the land would strongly affect the environmental performance of the wine manufacturing process. Some alternative scenarios have been proposed, modifying the management of pruning wastes in the vineyard and the packaging material in the winery. Results showed that environmental impacts associated with the production of this mountain wine could be notably reduced simply by reusing a percentage of the bottles and/or composting the organic wastes. Specifically, the carbon footprint would be 40% lower if these two improvements were implemented. Considering the lack of similar studies, further research on the production of mountain wines should be carried out in other regions to increase the knowledge about the environmental impacts associated with the manufacturing of this singular type of wine.