The Case of The Missing Capsule

Following completion of our TRUE Zero Waste certification, the industry’s leading third-party standard for measuring and validating diversion of waste from landfill, incineration, and the environment, Frog’s Leap has made a conscious decision to remove capsules from all our wines.

Capsules were first removed with the launch of our Reserve tier a few years back, and with the 2026 bottling line up we extended this change across our entire wine lineup. Why — well in short it was both a practical and a logical move driven by our desire to be as sustainable as possible in all areas of our business. Eliminating capsules allows us to remove a significant amount of packaging waste from both our production and industry ecosystem – and we feel really good about making these changes.

Capsules are purely decorative, and serve no actual role in preserving wine quality, a point echoed across the industry as more and more producers reassess the closure’s original insect- and moisture-deterrent rationale as obsolete under modern storage and shipping conditions. Removing capsules also removes an entire tier of overseas manufacturing, secondary packaging, and transoceanic freight from the supply chain — reducing embodied carbon, plastic and metal use, and exposure to import disruptions in one move. This means fewer raw materials mined or extruded, less “packaging of the packaging,” and a shorter, more resilient supply chain. Important decision-making factors for a company like ours where sustainability is part of our Mission.

When asked directly, I like to say that I believe that capsules are headed in the same direction as men’s hats, or women’s gloves or stockings. Once the norm, today they appear less “traditional” than out of date and out of sync with a modern sensibility. The removal of the capsule is an act of resistance;  Nothing about wine protection or aging is lost by skipping the foil. The only thing removed is a significant amount of unnecessary waste.

(Note: Our work with International Wineries for Climate Action supports these conclusions, and we believe it will shortly become standard practice, particularly with ethical, sustainability-minded producers who cannot in good conscience defend the waste associated with this outdated element of wine packaging.)