Environmental Footprints of Red Wine Production in Piedmont, Italy

Italy is a global top wine producer, with emphasis on high-quality wines. This study investigates the Carbon Footprint (CF), Water Footprint (WF), and Ecological Footprint (EF) of twelve red wine producers in Piedmont, Northern Italy. The analysis was based on a 0.75 L wine bottle as functional unit (FU). Twelve producers were interviewed and given questionnaires, which made it possible to gather primary data for the environmental evaluation that described vineyard and agricultural operations and wine production. The average CF was 0.88 ± 0.3 kg CO2eq, with 44% of CF associated with the glass bottle, 20% to the diesel fuel fed to the agricultural machines, 32% to electricity consumption, and 4% to other contributions. The average WF was 881 ± 252.4 L, with 98% Green WF due to evapotranspiration, and 2% Blue and Grey WF. The average EF was 81.3 ± 57.2 global ha, 73% ascribed to the vineyard area and 27% to CO2 assimilation. The obtained CF and WF values align with existing literature, while no comparison is possible for the EF data, which are previously unknown. To reduce the environmental impacts of wine production, actions like using recycled glass bottles, electric agricultural machines and renewable energy can help. However, high-quality wine production in Piedmont is deeply rooted in tradition and mostly managed by small producers. Further research should investigate the social acceptance of such actions, and policies supporting economic incentives could be key enablers.