Wine: Roll out the barrels – sustainably, of course

For both sustainability and good-business reasons, transporting wine in barrels and decanting it locally is an idea that is finally having its day in the sun

A winemaker walking between oak barrels in a cellar: the story of how wine is preserved has changed many times over the years

How was wine first transported? Most likely through the use of animal skins.

Wine was made in small, communal, village-sized wineries and you bought wine to fill your stitched animal skin bag, not unlike a bagpipe, in which you carried water occasionally too.

Farmers and shepherds would sling this animal-skin bagpipe under their arms. It was convenient and it was safe. You could drop it in the fields, and it would be mostly undamaged. It was also light and reusable.