INDUSTRY
SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES
The Canadian wine industry is entirely dependent on natural resources for its solar energy, climate, water, soils and the successful integration of all these elements. Protection and enhancement of these natural assets through sustainable practices are crucial to our future.
The goals of sustainability include a desire to improve environmental performance, improve the quality of wine growing and winemaking in an environmentally responsive manner, provide information to consumers and add value to our industry and our community.
Wine Growers Canada (WGC) supports environmental sustainability programs for both vineyard and winery operations. Our Environmental Sustainability Principles were developed in cooperation with FIVS and have been adopted by the World Wine Trade Group. These principles ensure flexibility in achieving environmental sustainability objectives, while preserving the programs of individual wineries and providing an ability to achieve success within a company’s particular operating environment.
Sustainable Practices
There are a wide range of environmentally sustainable practices that Canadian wineries employ in both the vineyard and the winery.
Practices or techniques put in place in the vineyard include:
- Use of cover crops – such as grass, dandelions and clover – between vine rows to promote biodiversity, add nutrients and prevent erosion of the soil, and control vine growth.
- Rejuvenating the soil and minimizing fertilizer use through the use of compost – made from trimmed cover crops, reused sediment or grape pomace by-products produced during the winemaking process, or through raising sheep or chickens in the vineyards, whose excrement helps fertilize the soil. This helps increase the vitality of vineyards’ soils, which, when diverse, sequester carbon at higher rates.
- Implementing measures to minimize soil erosion, such as re-vegetating steep areas or posting relatively slow speed limits on main vineyard roads.
- Use of solar panels or wind turbines in one’s vineyard operations.
- Responsible irrigation, including drip irrigation to reduce the amount of water used in the vineyard.
- Pest management techniques including establishing beneficial insects – such as bees and butterflies – and introducing animals into the vineyards, such as chickens, which consume pests.
- Habitat enhancement for wildlife, including planting vegetation to attract bees, establishing bird sanctuaries, creating piles of stone or brush for animal habitation, or enhancing wetlands on their land (e.g. establishing turtle platforms).
Practices or techniques put in place in the winery include:
- Winery design that maximizes energy efficiency.
- Use of daylighting and natural light in winery design, to reduce the need for electric lighting.
- Use of high-efficiency LED lighting or automatic lighting, which switches off when no-one is in the vicinity.
- Extensive use of insulation and double- or triple-glazing to control temperature transfer.
- Shade in external pavilions is designed in a way to contribute towards added shade to the winery.
- Water conservation through a range of means, including the use of automatic and low-flow fixtures.
- Use of green, renewable energy – such as solar or geothermal energy – to power the lighting and heating/ AC consumption in buildings throughout a winery’s estate.
- Geothermal energy can be a great means to heat and cool wine cellars, utilizing the Earth’s temperature to moderate the temperature in the wine cellar or in other buildings on a winery’s property.
- Many wineries not only make use of renewable energy generation on-site for their estate, but also feed any supplemental production back into the grid locally.
- Installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging points on-site for staff and visitor use.
- Sourcing from third party suppliers that are local, including for materials integral to winemaking, the design of the winery (e.g. locally sourced wood and construction materials) or the transportation of the wine to retail/ restaurants.
- Use of lightweight bottles, which use less raw materials and lowers the carbon footprint related to transporting heavier loads.
- Permeable paving installation in the winery’s parking lot, enabling rainwater to run through and not wash away and get into storm sewers, protecting the aquifer; or installation of a bioswale with native plants beside the parking lot or access roads to improve drainage and recharge groundwater.
- Reducing waste
- By using technologies such as a rotary vac to recover and use what would be liquid waste from the winemaking process.
- Experimenting with wine styles such as piquette, which allow grapes to go through a second fermentation, producing a lower-alcohol style of wine.
- Reducing energy use in winemaking
- Utilizing the force of gravity to move wine through tanks during the fermentation and ageing process, eliminating the need for pumps.
- Through the employ of a cross-flow filter instead of filter pads, which filters wine much faster and more efficiently.
Case Studies in Sustainability
WGC’s members are proud to be involved in a range of sustainable practices, from building LEED-certified wine sampling rooms and cellars, to embracing biodynamic viniculture and protecting indigenous plants and animals. Both our winery members and our associate members (who are involved in the broader wine supply chain in Canada) are committed to WGC Sustainability Practices. To highlight the active engagement of our membership, we have put together a number of case studies, reflective of their efforts to protect our natural environment.
Tinhorn Creek Vineyards (British Columbia)
Commitment to Excellent Stewardship Tinhorn Creek was founded in 1993 by a few like-minded individuals, or as current Chairman and Co-proprietor Kenn Oldfield says, “friends who became family”. The concept of treating employees like family is deeply embedded in Tinhorn Creek’s philosophy – part of the reason they seek to be good stewards, so that they can continue to support job retention and...
TricorBraun WinePak (Associate Member)
Innovating for lower CO2 emissions TricorBraun WinePak is the largest wine glass distributor in North America and a major provider of bottles to the wine industry. Committed to being at the forefront of the industry, the company set about offering clients new lightweight wine bottles in 2006, in the form of the Ardagh Glass Eco Series. Ardagh Glass Eco Bottles, before being shipped to wineries...
Summerhill Pyramid Winery (British Columbia)
Organic wines for a true expression of terroir Regarded as Canada’s most visited winery, Summerhill Pyramid Winery takes social responsibility to the surrounding community and the environment to the next level. Certified organic in 2007, Summerhill is now the largest producer of certified organic wines in Canada, and in 2012, received its Demeter Biodynamic certification. Operated by the Cipes...
Southbrook Vineyards (Ontario)
Third-generation farmer, Bill Redelmeier, and his wife Marilyn, founded Southbrook Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake in 2005, following more than twenty years of local growing experience.
L’Acadie Vineyards (Nova Scotia)
Equipped with a degree in Bio-Resource (Agriculture) Engineering from University of British Columbia and over 25 years of experience working in wineries across Canada, the USA and Australia, Bruce Ewert established L’Acadie in 2004.
Sustainable Winegrowing Ontario (SWO) Certified
Sustainable Winegrowing Ontario (SWO) is an accredited certification – and corresponding logo for wine labels – available to Ontario wineries. The program, in place since 2021, is built around the three core pillars of sustainability – Environment, Economy and Community. To achieve certification, wineries undertake an annual third-party audit to ensure a winery is a adhering to environmentally sustainable practices, a good community partner & invested in the local economy.
Click here to learn more
During a vineyard audit, the program will take the following into consideration: use of cover crops to add nutrients to soils; sustainable means to control pests being employed; responsible irrigation; use of renewable energy; composting; encouraging biodiversity or enhancing wildlife habitat. Wineries, in turn, are audited on the basis of efforts such as energy efficiency, waste management, lighter/ less packaging, and reduced water usage in winemaking.
Find out more about sustainability certification for wineries in Ontario
Sustainable Winegrowing British Columbia (SWBC)
Sustainable Winegrowing British Columbia (SWBC) began as a self-assessment program in 2011, and, as of 2020, offers a formal sustainability certification process for wineries and vineyards. In addition to initial sustainability certification, SWBC offers educational resources and training to encourage ongoing improvement among certified vineyards and wineries. Educational resources offered include guidance on minimizing waste, enhancing carbon capture in vineyards, watershed, pest and soil management, and reducing the use of water, energy, fertilizers, and streamlining wine packaging, as well as template documents to help wineries put processes in place to track resource use e.g. a waste tracker, an electricity consumption tracker.
Click here to learn more
The SWBC certification incorporates the three core elements of sustainability: environmental, social and economic, ensuring certified BC winery and vineyard operators not only practice good land stewardship, but offer safe and fulfilling employment, and be respectful neighbours.
Find out more about sustainability certification for wineries in British Columbia