Sustainable

 

In my bio there is mention of my support of wineries that follow sustainable practices. What does this mean? A couple years ago a leading Italian wine guide, Gambero Rosso, promoted the Forum for Environmental Sustainability. Below is an excerpt from an  article entitled “Ethics + Economy + Environment = Sustainability, written by Paolo Cuccia.

 

“What does being sustainable mean for viticulture? Above all, to be sustainable, a winery has to be a company: it has to be a business and be competitive on the marketplace. It must work in an ethical way and operate for social betterment. And, obviously, it has to be respectful of the environment, paying particular attention to its emissions of greenhouse gases, water consumption, and direct or indirect pollution. At the same time, a winery has to maintain the biodiversity of the ecosystem. To sum up, it must take into account both social and economic factors as well as environmental ones.Starting with this broad vision of sustainability, two years ago Gambero Rosso, together with the Unione Italiana Vini, took on the role of promoting the Forum for Environmental Sustainability. A detailed report followed and work for the second phase of the project is in progress. The report involved 37 experts of the technical-scientific community confronting the theme of

wine-sustainability. Two work groups outlined a pathway of research into the overall system, with investigations that involved over 1000 winegrowing firms – chosen among those in the database of the Gambero Rosso wine guide from where questionnaires were sent out and data were collected – as well as 15 national programs for the sustainable development of wine. Eighty percent of the entrepreneurs interviewed considered environmental sustainability of utmost importance. It is clear the trend is towards improving price/quality rapport as well as favoring the perception of added value in terms of exports and internationalization.

Helped by their more favorable climate, wineries located in southern Italy and the islands are further ahead on the road to sustainability. The sustainability lever seems to act as a value driver both at the level of the differentiation of the offer and on the strategy of cost reduction. The perceived economic advantage comes from better management of resources as well as from the efficiency of the process. Wineries that are directly involved in specific processes of sustainable development represent at least a third of the wine GDP, a value estimated at over 3 billion euros of sales volume. Now the priority is to reach a joint system of evaluation and certification for a concrete improvement of the entire sector. Among the dominating themes are: innovation and energy efficiency: precision viticulture that disperses into the air as little of vine treatments as possible; the use of detailed information as to the conditions of the vineyard and of leaf wetness; micro-zoning thanks to satellite imaging. Reducing waste, evaluating one׳s own energy situation and searching for the passive efficiency of architecture to optimize space and air-conditioning systems are broadly-shared goals. Think of Antinori׳s up-to-the-minute winery in Tuscany (Bargino – San Casciano in Val di Pesa), or that of Alois Lageder in Alto Adige (Magrè) and of Salcheto in Tuscany (Montepulciano). Now we can recycle the energy of renewable sources in the production process, using pruning discards and marc, or grape residue. And then there׳s packaging. It׳s much talked about, but there are still few light-weight bottles on the market. The myth that it takes a heavy bottle to conserve a great wine refuses to die, a fact that has an impact on the environment, starting with transportation alone.” (written by Paolo Cuccia).

In  2016 Gambero Rosso for the first time certified wineries as sustainable. Below is a list of wineries that I have visited that have been

certified by Gambero Rosso as sustainable: Terre del Principe (photo at top was taken in Terre del Principe sustainable vineyard with the owners Manuela and Peppe), Nanni Cope, Elena Fucci, Quintodecimo, Luigi Maffini, Cantine Astroni, Di Meo, Tenuta del Cavalier Pepe and Viticoltori De Conciliis.

Organic

Organic wine is made with organically grown grapes which means no chemicals are used in the vineyard such as: pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and chemical fertilizers. Only natural products are used such as manure for fertilization and bees for insect control.  Little or no sulfites are added in the winemaking. Sulfites develop naturally as a by-product of fermentation; generally 6 to 40 parts per million (PPM). Many countries allow wine makers to add a small amount of sulfites to prevent oxidation and spoiling; 25 ppm to 150 ppm; the

permissible amount varies from country to country. Conventional wines are permitted to have sulfite levels at 350 ppm. Most organic wines have less than 100 ppm, notwithstanding an allowed amount greater than 100 ppm. Thus, conventional wines may have 3 to 4 times more sulfites than organic wines.

There are a couple of methods of winemaking that are related to organic, but have not obtained  certification; natural and traditional. Natural wine makers generally shun the addition of any sulfites. Traditional wine makers are reluctant to incorporate modern techniques into their longstanding practice of winemaking. This schism between traditional v. modern is prevalent in the Barolo winemaking area.

Biodynamic

Biodynamic wines are made in a holistic manner. The grapes are organically grown, but vineyard practices are in line with whole ecosystem; astrological and lunar cycles are considered when planting and harvesting. during the winemaking there are no added yeasts or acidity adjustments. I refer to Biodynamic as “Organic Plus”.

Conclusion

Wineries can be doubly certified; sustainable and organic or sustainable and biodynamic, while others have a single certification. In short sustainable wineries focus on balancing social, economic and environmental factors, organic wineries focus on the use of no chemicals and biodynamic wineries focus incorporating life cycles in the growing and harvesting of grapes and in the making of wine.