Wine by Sailing Ship?

The Languedoc region of France has became a testing ground for a new idea that's, well, very old too. The Compagnie de Transport Maritime a la Voile (CTMV) sent a sailing ship loaded with fine wines to Ireland last summer, re-launching a practice that ended 150 years ago. What a great green idea - no one is in a hurry to receive wine, as the older it is the finer it gets.

Samantha Brodeur of CTMV said: "We are beginning with wine, first to Ireland because there is a long tradition of such trade. The fleet will consist of five or six vessels, with England, Belgium, Canada and Sweden as the next countries." They plan to transport a wider array of bulky goods by clipper as a replacement for gas-guzzling supertankers; CMTV describes itself as Europe’s new merchant navy under sail.

The best thing about shipping wines by sea? The winemakers (admittedly a mystical bunch) believed that after one week at sea, the wines had noticably improved from the constant motion.

Fifty-five wineries participated and every bottle will carry a Sail Wine logo and an ECOCERT certificate. The wines will be more widely available in stores in the United Kingdom in September 2008. We’re glad Canada is on the list for the next batches!