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Moët Hennessy - the wine and spirits division of LVMH, the world’s leading luxury products group - created a plasticfree booth devoted to Living Soils for Vinexpo Paris, that ran 10-12 February. Described as a “cocoon” of cork, due to cork’s inherent acoustic properties that limit noise pollution, Moët Hennessy’s offered a haven of contemplation in the midst of the bustle of Vinexpo Paris. The booth was resolutely eco-designed and hosted various panels about how to transmit healthier soils to future generations. Everything in the booth was recyclable and bio-based, from floor to ceiling, including specially-designed furniture.

This was the “first time” that Moët Hennessy has explicitly promoted its work to deliver sustainable growth.

The project was designed by Jeanne Dumont, an architect at DLPG, who said she wanted to “play with codes of luxury and naturalness” and added that cork was chosen because it “echoes the cultural universe of wine / viticulture”. The cork was supplied by Amorim, which Dumont says is an emblematic example of circular economy practises: “the cork is taken from sustainably managed forests, from cork oaks in France or Portugal, without having to cut them down”. Amorim’s Marketing & Communication director, Carlos de Jesus, says that he was delighted with the project: “It is wonderful to have natural cork’s sustainability credentials showcased with such amazing design. The feedback here in Paris has been nothing short of remarkable. Our cork is an example of “up-recycling” - it is also used in aeronautics and aerospace.” The other partner for supply of materials for the booth was Taransaud which supplied wooden staves, sourced from PEFC-certified forests. The staves are used in oak barrels to age wines and spirits. This combination of cork and wood reflects a centuries-old natural partnership that has played a key role in the ageing and bottling processes of wines and spirits around the world. The stand contained no plastic or glue with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Moët Hennessy’s highlights cork in its eco-designed booth at Vinexpo Paris “I only wanted to use materials of great purity”, concludes Jeanne Dumont. “I am not an ecological purist: I believe in common sense, in the virtues of short circuits and therefore, my preference goes to local materials, pure, saved to avoid waste, and likely to be ultimately re-used, recycled, and valued to escape landfill”. After the end of Vinexpo Paris, all the materials used in the stand were recycled and given a new life.