Guardians of the Earth, friends of the planet and other assorted green do-gooders will no doubt have joined hands and jumped for joy this week when it was announced that all wines from the 2010 vintage entered in this year's Air New Zealand Wine Awards must be sustainably produced.
Meanwhile, the silent majority, whose main concern is the price they pay for the wine they drink, will probably still be asking : What's the hell's this sustainability stuff about? A good question. And one that deserves to be answered because there is, behind all the verbiage and the buzz words that surround the subject, good reason to sit up, take notice and applaud winegrowers for what they are attempting to do.
Which is: To promote and reinforce the clean green image which helps to sell our wines around the world by identifying and promoting winegrowing practices that are economically viable, socially responsible, and environmentally sound.
This means (in plainer English) doing such things in the vineyard as understanding and emulating natural processes; reducing the use of pesticides; promoting soil health through the use of cover crops and compost ; by paying attention in the winery to energy and water usage, waste management, recycling and other practices.
True. Many of these practices have been followed for years by organic and biodynamic wine producers or demanded by ISO (international) standards. But it wasn't till the mid-1990s that a group of volunteer New Zealand grapegrowers got together and pioneered a set of industry standards which, through Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ), has established a framework those who want a ``sustainable'' sticker on their wines must follow.
To qualify for that valued fern sticker the winery/brand must be an accredited member of the SWNZ and the wine must be made in an accredited winery from 100 per cent accredited vineyard grapes.
Members, like certified biodynamic, organic and ISO 14000 producers must also undergo independent audits which in this case are conducted on a random selection basis once every three years on average.
New Zealand Winegrowers' aim is to have all wineries involved in the programme, encouraging many to do so through the introduction four years ago of special ``pure'' medals for sustainable wines at Air New Zealand Wine Awards. Now, by allowing only sustainable wines in our biggest and most important show, it is well on the way to achieving that goal.
Fonte: The Southland Times em http://www.stuff.co.nz/
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