And then somebody remembered that the oceans are full of free wind

On the theme of ‘Old media don’t die. They just pine for the Fjords.’

French vineyard owners are returning to a slower pace of life by starting to export their wine by sailing boat – a method last used in the 1800s – to reduce their carbon footprint.

This month 60,000 bottles from Languedoc will be shipped to Ireland in a 19th-century barque, saving 22,680kg of carbon.

Further voyages to Bristol and Manchester in England and even to Canada are planned soon afterwards.

The French, always fond of doing things the difficult way, have a wonderful idea here. Sure one ship doesn’t mean Al Gore can take a holiday, but it’s a great gesture. And a perfect fit for the cargo. In marketing parlance, wine is a high value and highly subjective experience good. In regular terms, how much you will pay for a bottle, and your perception of how good it tastes, is strongly correlated to how much of it’s story you are ready to believe in.

Pictured: The Barque, manufactured at the pinnacle of Victorian Era sailing technology.

LINK: French send wine by sailboat

UPDATE: grammar edits and Baker also point this out, another (high tech) startup based on this same low tech idea, kyte surfing containers ships Link