Oz Clarke lambasts "indulgent" reserve bottles

Published: 23 July, 2008

Heavy reserve wine bottles have no place in the modern wine world and are simply an indulgence the industry does not need.

This is according to Oz Clarke who was speaking to Harpers TV at the 2008 Climate Change and Wine Conference in Barcelona.

The wine writer and TV presenter said: "I would like to say to all these people who make all this reserve wines in bottles that give you a sprained wrist - I would like to break every single one of those over the heads of the marketing men who actually promote them.

"I think its one of the biggest nonsenses when the empty bottle weighs as much as a full bottle from another winery."

Companies are effectively doubling the amount of energy needed to move such a bottle from one market to another, Clarke continued.

"It's a small thing but it's one of the most self indulgent things the wine world does."

He said the issue of climate change was one he had "been bashing on about for years" and urged the wine industry to take action.

The conference ran from February 15 to February 16 and attracted over 300 attendees from more than 36 different countries.

There would be commercial opportunities for those wine companies that took the climate change message to heart, he added.

Clarke concluded: "Climate change is here. It's frightening and thrilling at the same time but companies can make lots of profit out of being socially aware.

"It's not as everyone thinks, a dead loss. If you have the entrepreneurial spirit, then you will find ways of making it work."

Click here to see the full Harpers TV video interview with Oz Clarke.

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