Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/735024
122 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 { wine ecology } WHEN TWO PIECES OF A PUZZLE CLICK AND FIT TOGETHER, the result is satisfyingly effective and wonderfully natural—and makes perfect sense. Cue the newfound partnership between Snoqualmie Winery and Rivercap SA, which have joined forces to produce an innovative, eco-friendly wine packaging system that uses Absolute Green Line (AGL) capsules. Manufactured by Rivercap at its new facility in Benicia, California, the next generation of wine capsules is produced from bio-based polyeth - ylene (PE) fashioned from sugarcane harvested in Brazil and printed with water-based inks instead of oil and solvents. For Rivercap, based in Rioja, Spain, the AGL capsule represents the next-level response to increased demand from consumers for sustainably produced products and to winemakers eager to extend their environmentally responsible farming and winemaking methods to wine packaging. Snoqualmie Winery boasts Washington State's largest USDA- certified Organic vineyard. Beginning with the 2014 reds and 2015 whites, all Snoqualmie bottles feature Rivercap's Absolute Green Line eco-friendly capsules—the first wines to do so. A Natural Fit RIVERCAP AND SNOQUALMIE WINERY PARTNER TO CREATE MORE SUSTAINABLE WINE PACKAGING by Cliff Rames