Hello again from Rachael, the Technical Manager at Canned Wine Group, usually found staying on top of our quality and safety system, technically tasting, analysing analyses or making sure our products are perfectly balanced before they go into cans (and KeyKegs!). Every so often, my role takes me on the road – quite literally, and this time on two wheels.
A couple of weeks ago, I needed to travel up to Cawston in Norfolk, where our contract packing partner is located, to oversee the blending of the newest batch of our Bianco Spritz, an organic white wine spritzer using our organic Fiano white wine as the base. We are based in Bath so travelling across the country to Norfolk feels arduous and involves a train into London, the Elizabeth line across London and another train up to Norwich. Only to arrive at Norwich Railway Station 4 hours later completely stranded and having to jump straight into a taxi for half an hour, as public transport over the Norfolk broads is practically non-existent.
The travelling adventure
I decided to make the trip a little differently this time, packing an overnight rucksack and throwing my bike on the train, to skip the last leg taxi and get myself there more sustainably. After securing my bike on the train to London Paddington, I settled into the journey and mapped my cycle route through London. It had been years since I’d ridden across London but thankfully, I was equipped with a borrowed phone holder and navigated the purpose built cycle way that takes you through Hyde Park and along the north bank of the river, past some of the capital’s most iconic landmarks. I pedalled past Buckingham Palace and through the heart of Westminster, where Big Ben towered overhead in the balmy afternoon sunshine. It’s easy enough to say that this was a far more enjoyable experience than heading down below to travel across the city in the dark of the London Underground. I arrived at Liverpool Street Station energised and with enough time to snap a selfie before heading in search of the bike coach.
Walking out of the railway station at Norwich with my bike, I relished the feeling of not being stranded and having control over the final leg of the journey. Marriott’s Way is a footpath, bridleway and cycle route which follows two disused railway lines between Norwich and Aylsham – Cawston is enroute. I set off along the path towards Cawston as evening was setting in, winding out of the city past hedgerows and open fields into the countryside. It was the perfect way to end the long journey, and I arrived in time to explore the village Medieval church and a Banksy (!) in golden hour before rocking up at the pub I was staying at for the night to have a post cycle pint and some dinner.
The purpose of the trip was to oversee the blending of our latest batch of Bianco Spritz, being filled into both cans and KeyKegs post blending for the first time. On site, I worked with the team to make sure the balance was as intended, fruity, refreshing and ready for the fizzy, zippy character provided by carbonating just before filling. As ever, the analytical composition is just as important as the taste and we adjusted the sugar, acidity and sulphur dioxide antioxidant levels to set the Bianco Spritz blend up to retain excellent freshness for a long time after filling, in both packaging formats! Tasting that final blend was exciting and a reminder of a trip well made.
The carbon emission savings of cycling
Now it turns out it’s actually quite difficult to estimate the carbon saving of switching out the Elizabeth Line for cycling, but using the reported CO2 emissions per passenger km in the 2018/19 TFL HSE annual report and approximating the journey length at 7 km, it looks like a carbon emissions saving of something like 0.6 kg CO2e for cycling both ways. For a return taxi journey between Norwich Railway Station and the our co-packer in Cawston, the Sustainable Climate Impact Fund (SCIF) has a travel carbon calculator which estimated the carbon emissions at 5 kg CO2e for a diesel car – very pleased with this saving from using pedal power instead!
Travelling this way was a small but important reminder that sustainability doesn’t have to just sit within the tangible outputs of wines we source or the packaging we choose — it runs through every small decision we make at Canned Wine Group. Taking the train and travelling end-to-end by bike instead of relying on the ease of driving for was not only lower in carbon, but it actually made the journey itself more enjoyable. The blend (no pun intended) of city landmarks and countryside lanes turned a work trip into something of an adventure.
So, the next time you crack open one of our refreshing organic Bianco Spritz cans, or have a glass served to you straight from the tap, you can visualise the journey that went into making it – from riverside cycle tracks past Big Ben to Marriot’s Way and quiet Norfolk roads – all part of bringing you a beverage that is made with people and the planet in mind.
