Fourth-generation winemaker Emma Brown says aluminium wine bottles are landing with consumers… as one of Australia’s oldest family-owned wineries tests the market for the eco-friendly, but expensive, containers.
136 years since her great-grandfather first bottled wine in Victoria’s King Valley, Emma Brown is spearheading an innovation her ancestors couldn’t have imagined: prosecco in aluminium bottles.
Launched in September as a “test and learn” summer experiment, the limited-edition release of Brown Brothers Prosecco in 750ml aluminium bottles is only now getting out to 100% of its outlets.
“We’re absolutely stoked by the uptake,” says Brown, the company’s head of innovation. “Particularly with younger consumers who don’t have that preconceived notion that wine must come in a glass bottle.”
Brown said it was too early to tell if Brown Brothers would make aluminium bottles a permanent feature of the product range or expand it into other categories. “But all signs point to a strong future for aluminium.”
The experiment taps into two major trends shaping the $45 billion global wine industry: sustainability and convenience. Glass bottles account for around 44% of the industry’s total carbon footprint, driving many winemakers to rethink their packaging.
Aluminium bottles are around 40% lighter and fully recyclable through Australia’s container deposit scheme, cutting emissions along the supply chain – even if the bottles are currently imported from the US.
The new bottles cost Brown Brothers 2.5 times more than glass, but Brown says the company is committed to long-term environmental goals and “the future of the land we farm each day.” And being 40% lighter than glass bottles, a pallet weighs 400kg less. So there are savings along the line.
While traditionalists may baulk at the idea of pouring sparkling wine from anything but glass, Brown says practicality has been a key drawcard. “Sparkling wine has been limited in when it’s consumed — picnics, races, barbecues, daytime occasions — because glass is heavy and hard to reseal once opened,” she says. “Aluminium solves that. You can chill it quickly, reseal it easily, and take it anywhere.”
Brown Brothers has been watching closely how different packaging attracts different drinkers. The winery’s research shows that wine drinkers who buy aluminium cans – where Brown Brothers already sells Prosecco and Moscato – are typically younger, more male, and more likely to enjoy drinks in social, outdoor settings.
They’re “coming into wine for the first time,” often from pre-mixed or ready-to-drink (RTD) categories, she says.
By contrast, traditional 750ml glass bottle buyers skew more female and are more likely to drink wine as part of a habitual, wind-down moment during the week.
“Almost half of Australian shoppers say sustainability is important to them,” Brown says, citing pre-launch testing that found many were willing to pay more for an environmentally friendlier option.
At the same time, Brown Brothers’ experiment sits within a wider industry rethink. In Western Australia, a group of Margaret River wineries has signed a Lightweight Glass Packaging Charter, aiming to cut packaging emissions by 20% by 2027.
Labels like Trentham Estate’s Three’s A Crowd and Greenskin Wines are also winning converts with eco-friendly cans and polymer pouches.
Brown Brothers’ aluminium bottle run — just 110,000 units — is limited and won’t last until Christmas. Brown is watching the market response closely, but her tone suggests confidence in the material’s future. “We’ve always been about innovation,” she says. “That’s part of being a family business — thinking not just about today but about the generations to come.”
