Allison Jordan Executive Director

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Allison JordanExecutive Director
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Agenda

• CA Sustainable Winegrowing Program background
• Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing
• Lessons Learned

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Sustainable Winegrowing
Growing and winemaking practices that are
sensitive to the Environment, responsive to the
needs and interests of society-at-large (social
Equity), and Economically feasible to implement
and maintain 3 Es or Triple Bottom Line
Future Generations
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What is Sustainable Winegrowing?

• Sustainable Winegrowing practices
• conserve water and energy
• maintain healthy soil
• reduce pesticide use
• preserve wildlife habitat
• protect air and water quality
• recycle natural resources
• enhance relations with employees and neighbors
• attain highest wine quality possible

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Sustainability is a Direction, Not a Destination

• Serves as compass for using resources more
  efficiently
• Wineries and vineyards determine how fast and how
  far they want to go
• A process of continuous improvement

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California Sustainable Winegrowing Program

• Partnership between Wine Institute California
  Association of Winegrape Growers (started in
  2002)
• Comprehensive self-assessment workbook
• Partners with regional associations, government
  agencies, universities NGOs
• Hosts educational workshops throughout CA
• Publicly reports on adoption of practices

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Sustainable Winegrowing Workbook Topics

• Viticulture
• Soil Management
• Vineyard Water Management
• Pest Management
• Wine Quality
• Ecosystem Management
• Energy Efficiency
• Winery Water Conservation Quality
• Material Handling
• Solid Waste Reduction Management
• Environmentally Preferred Purchasing
• Human Resources
• Neighbors Communities
• Air Quality

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SWP Workbook Framework
227 Criteria with Four Categories of Practices
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SWP Participation2002-Present

• SWP Self-Assessment (200 workshops)
• 1,566 vineyard and winery organizations (1,851
  individual participants)
• gt358K acres of winegrapes (68) and 150 million
  cases of wine (62)
• SWP Targeted Education (184 workshops)
• 9,240 attendees
• (some participants have attended more than one
• workshop)

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Sustainability Reports
www.sustainablewinegrowing.org
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• Launched in January 2010
• Enables wineries and vineyards to communicate
  their commitment to
• environmental stewardship
• conservation of natural resources
• socially responsible business practices

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Cycle of Continuous Improvement
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Certification Goals

• Maintain Californias global leadership position
• Provide voluntary third-party verification option
  
• Enhance transparency and credibility with key
  stakeholders including regulators, trade,
  environmental organizations, media and consumers
• Encourage statewide participation
• Advance entire California industry toward best
  practices

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Certification Requirements

• Annual SWP Self-Assessment (S-A)
• Demonstrate accuracy of S-A during third-party
  audit
• Meet all 58 prerequisites by scoring a 2 or
  higher, or
• having an action plan in place to improve
  performance
• Determine significant impacts prioritize areas
  for improvement
• Establish, implement update Action Plans
  annually
• Demonstrate continuous improvement Maintain or
  improve S-A scores

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Certification Prerequisites

• 3 Levels of Stringency
• Must score Category 2 or above (5 criteria)
• Must have action plan if score Category 1 with
  one-year timeline (39 criteria)
• Must have action plan if score Category 1 with no
  timeline (14 criteria)

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Communicating Certification

• Certificate for proof of certification
  (gatekeepers)
• CCSW Certification logo on company websites,
  promotional materials, and secondary packaging
  accompanied by
• Claim statement E.g. Acme Winery is Certified
  California Sustainable Winegrowing
• List of certified wineries and vineyards on CSWA
  website and to share with media, trade and
  consumers
• Up-to-date certification information and
  guidelines on CSWA website to ensure transparency

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www.sustainablewinegrowing.org
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Related CSWA Projects

• Industry-Wide Sustainability Targets
• Identify performance-based metrics
• Collect relevant data from SWP participants
• Establish industry baselines
• Eventually set industry targets to measure and
  communicate industry-wide improvements
• CA Wine Community Sustainability Awards
• Develop competitive award program to
• acknowledge leaders in sustainable winegrowing
• Help communicate the sustainability story
• Develop relevant public relations campaign

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Lessons Learned

• Allow time to get buy-in of industry and
  stakeholders
• Understand the goal of certification buoy entire
  industry vs. recognize a few will help you
  select type
• Know your audience
• Think about internal and external communications
  from the start
• Understand (and partner with?) similar programs

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Questions?

• info_at_sustainablewinegrowing.org
• www.sustainablewinegrowing.org