Ontario sets maximum bottle weight limit

Canadian province Ontario is leading the move toward lightweight bottling by setting a maximum weight on the wines it approves.

The state-controlled Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) has said it will not stock any wines packaged in a bottle weighing more than 420g from 1 January 2013.

In a letter seen by Decanter, Bob Downey, sales and marketing senior vice president for LCBO, says: ‘The maximum glass weight will be 420 grams for wines packaged in non-hock 750 ml bottles at or below a retail price of CAN$15.’

Champagne bottles and wines selling at more than CAN$15 will not have to comply with the new regulations but the LCBO admits any suppliers offering lighter weight bottles at premium price points will have an advantage over competitors.

‘For all wines with retail prices CAN$15 or over, we would still encourage suppliers to reduce weight of bottles. Given the environmental impact associated with producing, shipping and recycling glass, we’d ideally like to see all of our containers come down in weight.

‘While we do not anticipate the development of a standard maximum weight for CAN$15 or over wines at this time, favourable consideration will be given to product offers that are lower in weight,’ Downey adds.

Written by Rebecca Gibb

Rebecca Gibb MW is a wine journalist and editor who has also founded Bamboozled games, ‘the world’s first wine and spirit puzzle makers’. Having spent six years living in New Zealand, she has recently returned to her native north-east England. While in New Zealand, she became a Master of Wine, graduating top of her class and winning the Madame Bollinger medal for excellence in tasting. A former winner of both the UK’s young wine writer of the year and the Louis Roederer Emerging Wine Writer, her first book The Wines of New Zealand was published in 2018. She also runs wine events and has her own consultancy business The Drinks Project. She was a judge at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).