Wine exports set sail, one pallet at a time

he cargo yacht Grain de Sail set sail on Friday March 15 from the port of Saint-Malo in northern France. This is its first commercial voyage bound for the United States where it is due to reach the port of New York in 24 days. “99% of the time, the yacht will be powered by its sails, reducing CO2 emissions by approximately 95% compared with conventional freight”, stresses Burgundy company Albert Bichot in a press statement. The company has placed a pallet of wine – including bottles of Pommard, Moulin à Vent, Gevrey-Chambertin, Chablis and Crémant de Bourgogne – on the schooner.

Other wines – including Charles Heidsieck Champagne, Loire wines from La Sansonnière farm and Bordeaux chateaux – will also be on board. The cargo yacht can carry up to 50 tons of goods in a temperature-controlled hold. Grain de Sail was officially launched in February 2024 and is “a unique boat built entirely from aluminium, making it light, robust and recyclable”, adds Albert Bichot, adding that its “sail area is 520m2, giving it good wind exposure so that it can reach a commercial speed of 8 knots”.

From a quality perspective, “Albert Bichot has already transported wines on a schooner to study the impact of currents and the swell, for example”, the company told Vitisphere. Albert Bichot took part in the Microbiomes mission by the Tara Océans Foundation for this specific purpose.

Grain de Sail advocates decarbonised maritime transport and also promotes the circular economy – once the wines have been shipped to New York, the boat will head for the “Caribbean to fill the hold with chocolate and coffee that will be brought back to Saint Malo”. Albert Bichot intends to wait to see the results of the first crossing before committing to sail shipping – which is still in its infancy – as a means of transport in the future. Other plans for shipping wines and spirits using yachts are currently in the launch phase.