A comprehensive review of carbon footprint analysis as an extended environmental indicator in the wine sector

• An extensive review on carbon footprint-CF analyses of wine is presented.
• Methodological and conceptual limits and challenges behind wine-CF are observed.
• The CF indicator may provide large benefits both to winemakers and consumers.
• A wide range of issues related to wine-CF remain unexplored.
• The appropriateness of using CF as a sole indicator in the wine sector is discussed.

Currently, carbon footprint (CF) analysis is gaining a role of primary interest within the extensive literature regarding wine sustainability issues. It envisages the quantification of greenhouse gas emissions that underpin the life-cycle of wine, from viticulture and vinification to wine bottling, distribution, consumption and waste end-of-life. This critical review pursues several methodological and conceptual issues behind wine carbon footprinting, such as calculation approaches, labeling and standardization purposes, combinations with other methods and theories, and CF trends in the wine sector. Most studies have only addressed specific methodological issues from an attributional life-cycle perspective, or have directly reported the CF profile of a given wine product. Future studies, however, will have to deal with increasingly complex market interactions linked to the entire life cycle of wine-making. A comprehensive discussion is presented concerning the benefits the CF indicator may provide both to producers and consumers and on the needs for reducing uncertainties and misinterpretations within a growing globalized wine market.