In the Winery Sustainable, eh?


Organic or biodynamic practices for vineyards and wineries are embraced within the structure of sustainability.


By Gary Strachan D


oes anyone out there actually know what is involved when a winery claims to be operating sustainably? Organically? Biodynamically?


“Organic” farming methods are the best recognized claim for food production, but few consumers know the details of the farming methods and regulations that led to organic certification.


In Canada there is a legal framework designed to give consumers assurance that no toxic pesticides were used during the production of the labelled food. Organic standards are enforced and audited at the interprovincial and/or provincial level. Any producer who fails an audit may be denied the use of the organic claim.


In most cases, organic certification results in either a market advantage or a premium price for products, or perhaps the producer simply feels conscience- driven to produce food without the possibility of it containing toxic chemical residues. Often, organic practices are used more widely than actually documented. For wineries already burdened with a long list of reports, a non-essential report to track organic practices may not be a priority. Details of organic certification can be found at www.certifiedorganic.bc.ca . My mental image of biodynamic farming is that it goes beyond typical organic practices by placing greater emphasis on the ecology and environment of farming. The certifying body is Demeter International, which was the world’s first organic certification program, established in 1928, and presently active in more than 50 countries.


I have always felt that biodynamic agriculture has a mystical element that


reflects the ideas of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of the movement. On a practical level, I admire the strong emphasis placed on the management, conservation, and improvement of agricultural soils. There is no controversy that soil is one of the most basic links we share with all life on earth. In British Columbia the Bio-Dynamic Agricultural Society of B.C. can be reached via the website of the Certified Organic Associations of B.C. Sustainable practices are a relatively new worldwide movement being embraced by the wine industry. The Sustainable Practices Committee of the B.C. Wine Grape Development Council was founded in 2008 and has devoted countless hours examining other sustainability projects and the appropriateness of their


recommendations for the B.C. industry. Within the time it has taken B.C. to move from an unknown movement to a second generation of assessment manuals, some regions have evolved into near 100 per cent adoption.


Details of the B.C. project are posted at: http://sustainablewinegrowingbc.ca/ It’s a free, “made in B.C.” set of practices derived from investigation of the sustainable practices of most other wine regions of the world, tempered to fit B.C. conditions.


There is nothing about a vineyard or winery that is beyond the purview of sustainable practices. Organic or biodynamic practices for vineyards and wineries are embraced within the sustainable structure. They are components that can be included in the path toward a broader list of sustainable practices.


Obvious components of the assessment deal with topics such as water use, insect control, soil management, or bird aversion. Less obvious components deal with hospitality, community relations, and financial sustainability. In many cases, the adoption of sustainable practices has been shown to save money through more efficient management. Sustainable practices today provide assurance that future generations will still have access to clean water, productive soils, and an accepted place in society.


The B.C. sustainable practices project has produced a series of workbooks, divided into three guidebooks and their checklists: Vineyards, Wineries, and


Hospitality.


Few other sustainable projects include provision for winery-related hospitality and community relations. Agricultural topics are based on the B.C. Environmental Farm Plan and the Best Practices Guide for Grapes plus other resources for hospitality and community relations.


The guidebooks provide a concise summary of best practices plus a list of references for further information. The checklists enable the user to do a self- assessment of their own practices in comparison with modern industry- standard best practices.


There is no pass or fail, only a chance to highlight which practices you could improve. Individual questions often don’t have a yes or no answer, but are provided with levels of achievement toward a sustainable goal.


Few sustainable practice projects have certification provisions, but this is the next logical step for B.C. Certification enables participants to track their level of achievement towards a goal. If you have ideas on how to implement certification, this is the time to come forward. The committee will be working on this problem early next year.


There are many questions to be answered, such as should members have an identifying logo for their participation? Should there be levels of recognition, dependent on the score achieved on their checklists? Who should be the certifying authority? How will the cost of certification be covered?


There may not be any uncontroversial, easy answers. No one said it would be easy, just worthwhile.


British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Winter 2016-17 17


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