The declaration is a worldwide initiative. The chairman of the day was Ricardo Lagos, former prime minister of Chile and UN ambassador for climate change and also Frederico Castellucci, CEO of the worldwide organization for wineries (OIV), attended the event. The first step in the development of the ‘wineries for climate protection’ was taken by three famous Catalan wineries: Torres, Freixenet and Cordoniu. The founding fathers, jointly responsible for approximately 500 million bottles of wine a year, are striving to mobilize wineries all over the world to share their knowledge.

The declaration ‘Wineries for climate protection’ was followed by a conference where wineries presented their best practices. Logistic optimization at Moët & Chandon provides a structural reduction in the use and transport of 3600 pallets per year. Besides that, the prestigious champagne producer switched to bottles that weigh 835 gram instead of 900. Reduction in glass is a sector trend and in cooperation with suppliers, the various Cava producers in Spain such as Cordoniu, developed a more sustainable cava-bottle.

Fetzer Vineyards, a frontrunner on sustainability, showed that the company reduced its waste with 96% compared to 1990 and has 70 solar-powered constructions running. The Australian based Treasury Wines with brands such as Penfolds, Lindemans and Seppelt, intensively partners with their 700 grape suppliers to establish sustainable wine growing. This is accomplished by providing a footprint calculator that registers energy- and water usage.

The above illustrates that there are plenty of examples to learn from. The next steps for the wineries involved in the declaration are the generation of more broad support in the wine sector and a further spread of knowledge on sustainable wines.        
 

For more information visit: http://www.wineriesforclimateprotection.com/index.php?lang=en