Willamette Valley Vineyards is going green in a new way.
Wine Business reports that they will become the first winery in the world to use cork stoppers harvested from forestlands certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Willamette Valley Vineyards annually produces around 100,000 cases of mainly Pinot Noir wine. Starting with the 2006 vintage Pinot Noir to be bottled in July, the winery will begin using corks that are FSC certified and imprinted with the FSC and Rainforest Alliance logo. The corks come from from FSC-certified cork forests in the Alentejo region of Portugal. The Rainforest Alliance says that cork is important to protecting the environment because the use of plastic stoppers and aluminum screw caps aren't environmentally friendly. The 2005 vintage sells for $24 per bottle.
