Sustainable Winegrowing’s 2021 Impact Report

Sustainable Winegrowing Australia has recently released its “2021 Impact Report”, which summarises the national dataset from 568 member vineyards and 63 member wineries practising sustainability across Australia.

Sustainable wine growing involves rethinking methods so that we can preserve the environment on which we all depend.

The factors considered in the report are water, land and soil, energy, biodiversity, waste and people and business, and the following summarises the key findings:

• Water: 87 per cent of vineyards and 79 per cent of wineries have taken action to reduce water consumption. Methods adopted include soil moisture monitoring, use of weather data, visual vine assessment, and vine water demand measurement.
• Energy: 72 per cent of vineyards and 82 per cent of wineries have taken action to reduce energy consumption and are prioritising energy efficient practices, such as using renewable energy sources. De Bortoli Wines was showcased in the report. De Bortoli Wines run a 230 kW solar system and 200 kW solar thermal plant at its winery in Bilbul, Riverina. This produces 320,000 kW hours of renewable energy annually, equivalent to the energy usage of 40 households. Alongside other initiatives, this has resulted in an annual decrease of 1.6 million kW hours, which is the equivalent energy usage of 300 households.
• Biodiversity: 68 per cent of vineyards and 62 per cent of wineries have taken action to protect and enhance biodiversity.
• Land and soil: 60 per cent of vineyards have a documented land and soil nutrient management program, and 46 per cent have implemented best practice soil nutrient management. In terms of pests and disease, 83 per cent of vineyards control pests and diseases based on regional alerts and weather and vineyard monitoring, while 54 per cent use best practice disease and pest management practices.
• Waste: 72 per cent of vineyards and 89 per cent of wineries have taken action to reduce waste to landfill and identify recycling and reuse options. In all, the wineries have diverted approximately 36,000 tonnes of waste from landfill.
• People and business: 80 per cent of vineyards and 93 per cent of wineries engage in at least one community or environmental initiative. Together, the members supported a range of community groups, including sporting clubs, homeless shelters and environmental causes. The following testimonial was given by Christian Campanella from Pernod Ricard Winemakers (Certified vineyards) “We are committed to continually reducing our carbon footprint, improving the quality of our care for the land and finding new ways to sustain winemaking communities for generations to come. By 2030, Pernod Ricard will have trained more than 10,000 bartenders globally in hosting consumers in a more sustainable and responsible way, focused on the five Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Respect, Rethink.”

You can download the Report HERE.

• Topics:

• Wine / Viticulture
• Agriculture
• Rural Roundup