"These days, every winemaker is falling all over himself to declare how 'green' he is. Are they doing this to improve the quality of their wine, or have marketers decided it's time to apply a fresh coat of green-wash to the wine industry?" - Andy Peay, co-owner of Peay Vineyards, The San Fransisco Chronicle, December 8, 2008
As with any business, sustainability is a balancing act and follows a continuum. Nothing is black or white. One may say that a winery or a vineyard is more or less sustainable as compared to another operation but it isn't fair or correct to say that it is sustainable - period.
So What Makes a Winery Sustainable?
Viticulture
In terms of viticulture, you first have to define words like natural, biodynamic and organic.
We need to look back to 1990 when congress passed the National Organic Foods Act. Through a series of regulations and a whole lot of government bureaucracy, the National Organic Program (NOP), part of the USDA, set guidelines for the processing and labeling of organic products. This boils down to the four categories that organic wines can claim:
- 100% Organic - wines that are produced with grapes that are certified 100% organically grown and cannot have any added sulfites. It may have naturally occurring sulfites, but the total sulfite level must be less than 20 parts per million. Additionally, the label must list the certifying agent.
- Organic - wines that have at least 95% of their ingredients from certified organic sources. These wines may have up to an additional 100 ppm of sulfur dioxide added to them.
- Made With Organic Ingredients - wines that have at least 70% of their grapes from organic sources. These wines may have sulfur dioxide added.
- Some Organic Ingredients - wines that have less than 70% organic ingredients.
Biodynamic - Demeter, an international ecological association that certifies farms (including vineyards) as biodynamic, dates back to 1924 in Europe. An experimental circle of farmers and scientists formed to implement Rudolf Steiner's agricultural teachings into actual practice. Biodynamics is an agricultural system that is truly regenerative and in tune with nature; that creates and preserves natural resources rather than utilizing and consuming them. It's a closed system. Organic can not make such a clam.
The Winery and Estate
The best explanation is an example. Shafer Vineyards, in California's Napa Valley and second-generation vintner Doug Shafer tell their story on a video on the winery's website. The highlights of their sustainable practices include:
- In December 2004, Shafer Vineyards made the switch to 100% solar power cutting their monthly power bill from about $3,000 to about $40. .
- Reuses and recycles all of their water and makes their own compost for fertilizer.
- Practices Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and partners with owls, songbirds, hawks, bats and other wildlife to cultivate successful vineyards and rely on cover crops to help control insects that would otherwise blight their vines.
- Uses low-gravity flow techniques (Medlock) to move the wine at a steady downward slope as it moves through the winemaking process.
- The winery recycles materials used in the entire winemaking process.
- Erecting sustainable, energy efficient buildings.
- Using biofuel or alternatively powered farming equipment; using horse power instead of tractors when workable.
Shafer Vineyards was named one of the "World's 25 Great Vineyards" in 2002 by Wine & Spirits magazine. Additionally in 2002, Doug Shafer was named winemaker of the year by both the Quarterly Review of Wines and Food & Wine magazine. Why? The quality of their juice is better. Better than it used to be and better than it's competitors. And if you've got better quality juice, the hope is you'll have better quality wines. Better wines, better for the earth and a legacy you can be proud of.
Jessica Root of Treehugger.com reminded us of a prophetic Latin saying that goes, "It is well to remember that there are five reasons for drinking: the arrival of a friend; one's present or future thirst; the excellence of the wine; or any other reason." As she says, "her any other reason to drink wine" is if it's local, organic or made at an ecologically sensitive winery.
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