How to Tell if Your Wine is Sustainable

Sustainable wine makers can be found on all corners of the Earth, due largely to the global climate situation. Sustainable refers to the farming and winemaking practices the winegrowers follow from start to finish. For example, the grapes used must not be touched by animal based sprays or fertilizers.

To be certified sustainable wine, an independent third party must evaluate the farming process to ensure that eco-friendly standards are met. Many sustainable wine operations follow organic standards, however, all organic standards aren't necessarily sustainable. Sustainable wineries make economically viable and socially responsible decisions for their processes and products.  

What Makes the Process "Sustainable"?

While evaluating processes to determine sustainability, some categories the rating is based upon are water conservation, energy use, pest management, land management, and green building. Sustainable wines strive for greener overall operations, typically by lowering waste and reducing greenhouse emissions. 

Promoting biodiversity at the farm level ensures sustainability. Biodiversity is the variety of life in a particular ecosystem. For example, promoting biodiversity at the farm level entails utilizing birds to control caterpillar populations, instead of chemicals and pesticides. The key to sustainability in wine is to start with the land where the grapes are grown. Being careful with water usage, using organic, no waste processes, these are essential to sustainability in wine. 

Is Organic Wine the Same Thing?

Certified organic wine isn't necessarily sustainable, and sustainable wine usually is organic, but not always. This is because of the organic systems used in sustainable winemaking, like naturally purifying water saving systems, and maintaining eco-friendly systems from farming through bottling.

It is actually rare and difficult to make a good organic wine, because the quality of the grapes suffers in all organic winemaking. In NZ, BioGro and AsureQuality are two governing bodies who can label a wine certified organic. Organic wines must have completely organic systems in place for both the farming and winemaking processes in order to earn their certified organic label. 

How Can You Tell if Wine is Sustainable?

Look for the EMS or LIVE labels on the bottles to be certain it's a sustainable wine. EMS, or Environmental Management Systems, operates under ISO 14001 standards, an independent organization that works internationally to equip companies with tools and information to reduce waste and operate in an environmentally responsible manner. 

LIVE ensures grape farms report on biodiversity, irrigation systems, and use of fertilizers to ensure that the wines labeled LIVE are actually sustainable in grape growth and processing. The easiest way to know if the wine is sustainable is to get to know the process yourself. Find a wine you enjoy, and learn about the farming and winemaking that goes into that particular bottle.