Background to Sustainable Winemaking Ontario: An Environmental Charter for the Wine Industry

In Ontario there is a comparatively young wine industry that is expanding rapidly, competing with other land uses, challenged by a rapidly changing regulatory framework, and very interested in environmental sustainability.

By late 2003, members of the WCO decided that the wine industry in Ontario needed to have a proactive environmental program to help the wineries identify and adopt Best Practice environmental stewardship.

Sustainable Winemaking Ontario is a proactive program created to address this industry-wide interest and to help the wine industry identify and comply with existing regulations which are changing rapidly.

In addition, there is a major cultural shift occurring within organizations, such as the Ministry of the Environment, as well as in public expectations. These have the potential to have a significant impact on a range of industries, including the wine industry. The proactive approach by the WCO to develop an environmental program will be judged as being extremely well timed and helpful.

While these regulatory changes are significant, the WCO is also clear about the need to go "beyond the rules" and to continually push for improved industry environmental performance. The documents and workshops, are tools designed to assist the industry in the continuous improvement of its environmental performance.

The following goals and benefits of Sustainable Winemaking Ontario have been identified during meetings and workshops with the industry.

Goals

The goals of Sustainable Winemaking Ontario are to:

• improve the environmental performance of the wine industry in Ontario
• continually improve the quality of wine growing and winemaking in an environmentally responsive manner
• provide a way to address consumer and resident questions in relation to the environment and the wine industry
• add value to the wine industry in Ontario.

Benefits

Sustainable Winemaking Ontario aims to deliver the following benefits to the wine industry:

• a framework including Best Practices that protects the environment while delivering economic efficiencies
• a format of continual improvement to assist companies that operate with a goal of improving their operational practices
• tools for measurement, analysis, feedback and reporting to allow the industry to continuously benchmark its performance
• information on emerging regulatory changes that is easily accessible to winemakers and viticulturalists
• assistance in ensuring access to international markets
• an increased assurance of food safety.

Sustainable Winegrowing Ontario addresses the environmental, economic and social aspects of sustainability.

Documents

Sustainable Winemaking Ontario: An Environmental Charter for the Wine Industry

1. Eco-winegrowing 101
2. Environmental Best Practice for Wineries
3. Environmental Best Practice for Winery Hospitality Services
4. Viticulture Pilot Addendum to the Canada-Ontario Environmental Farm Plan
5. Energy Best Practice for Wineries
6. Developing Energy Benchmarks for the Ontario Wine Industry
7. A Newcomer’s Primer — The Environment and the Wine Industry in Ontario
8. Reducing Waste and Making Money. A Concise and Practical Guide to Pollution Prevention in Wineries

Of these documents, Sustainable Winemaking Ontario — Environmental Best Practice for Wineries and Sustainable Winemaking Ontario-Environmental Best Practice for Winery Hospitality Services have also been developed as an interactive spreadsheet, allowing businesses to instantly receive feedback on their scoring and progress over time.

One of the priorities identified through discussions with the industry was to increase energy efficiencies for wineries. External funding was obtained to undertake research and to present workshops to the industry. In addition, two publicly available documents have been produced:

• Altech Environmental Consulting and Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement, Developing Energy Benchmarks for the Ontario Wine Industry, for the Wine Council of Ontario.
• Narelle Martin, Energy Best Practice for Wineries, for the Wine Council of Ontario.

In addition, Niagara College is developing training programs for people currently working in the industry, as well as including more emphasis on environmental requirements and expectations for curriculum for new industry participants.

The Wine Council of Ontario encourages potential newcomers to the industry to review A Newcomer’s Primer. Click here to view PDF.

For more information on Sustainable Winemaking Ontario: An Environmental Charter for the Wine Industry please contact via email .

Please indicate whether your inquiry is: Media, Technical or to request copies of the book. Copies of the book are also available in PDF format on CD.

Cost:
Complete Binder*: $200.00 CDN + GST
CD: $20.00 CDN + GST

Shipping cost extra — dependant on location.

*Quantities are limited — first priority will be given to those in the wine industry.

List of Participating Wineries
20 Bees Alvento Winery Cattail Creek Estate Winery Cave Spring Cellars Château des Charmes Colio Estate Wines Coyote's Run Estate Winery EastDell Estates Fielding Estate Winery Flat Rock Cellars	Frogpond Farm Organic Winery Grange of Prince Edward Estate Winery Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery Hillebrand Estates Winery Inniskillin Wines Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate Winery Kacaba Vineyards Lakeview Cellars Estate Winery Mountain Road Wine Company Peller Estates Grimsby	Peller Estates Niagara Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery Pillitteri Estates Winery Reif Estate Winery Rockway Glen Estate Winery Southbrook Winery Stratus Vineyards Thirty Bench Wines Vincor