Sustainability

Sustainability is known as, “the quality of not being harmful to the environment, or depleting natural resources and thereby supporting long term ecological balance.” For our research project, we decided to look deeper into this idea of sustainability, and what it means for the wine industry as a whole. Both the American and France wine industry have positive and negative attributes surrounding their practices, but we were eager to find out what the specifics of these were.

Typically, small scale or family owned American wineries tend to make more of an effort to reduce energy use and waste, increasing sustainability. Larger scale and more profitable wineries do not generally make the effort, as with most wineries located in in France. The demand for wine is increasing globally, with more locations in North America and Asia having an increase in wine consumption. This increase in demand has led to an increase in the distribution rates of wine around the world, and transportation of this wine in booming. Unfortunately, however, the transportation process is the biggest contributor of carbon emissions in the entire wine making process, especially in the United States. A study done by a New York University professor and a sustainable engineer has discovered that shipping a 750-milliliter bottle from Bordeaux to New York City emits 1.8 kilograms of carbon, whereas shipping the same size bottle from the Napa Valley emits 2.6 kilograms. This means that wine consumers in the Northern half of the United States are better off drinking wine from France rather than consuming California vineyard wines. For the winemaking process to be truly sustainable, consumers would have to be more conscious and aware of where their wine is coming from and what locations are more environmentally friendly to ship from.

The United States has made a substantial effort to increase sustainability in the wine industry throughout the country. Consumers are actively demanding more sustainably produced products, and wholesalers and retailers are taking a more active approach in considering sustainable practices when selecting wines that go into their portfolios. Furthermore, California has taken a stand and created the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance. The CSWA offers third-party certification that recognizes the adoption of and ensures improvement of sustainable grape and wine practices. Once both the vineyard and the winery are certified, a “Certified Sustainable” label can be affixed to wine bottles.

Our group set up a time to visit a local winery so that we could get a firsthand look at how wineries are making positive changes towards a more sustainable future. LaBelle Winery, located in Amherst, New Hampshire has taken several measures to reduce waste, and cut down on energy use all while improving the quality of their wine. The short video located on this webpage explains some of LaBelle’s sustainable measures, as well as some steps of the winemaking process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XafginscelI

In the video, several sustainable practices of explained, including:

French Oak Cubes: These cubes are placed in a vegetable brewer bag and dropped into a stainless-steel tank to age wine. These cubes are used in place of classic wooden barrels. This practice is not only more economical for LaBelle, but also more environmentally friendly. Traditional wooden barrels cost upwards of $5,000 and can only be used for three years, when they must be disposed of. By implementing this alternative method to aging wine, LaBelle saves money, waste, and shipping costs associated with ordering and delivering new barrels. Cross-Flow Filter: Labelle’s cross-flow filter is unique to this wine making process. The filter cuts down on operating time, and therefore energy use. Traditional filters must be replaced daily as opposed to the cross-flow filter which only requires replacement every five years. This filter allows for huge cuts on landfill waste. Additionally, it filters wine quickly and efficiently to again, increase the flavor and quality of LaBelle’s wines.

Grape Waste and Reuse: Waste from the filters and other processes in winemaking at LaBelle are used mostly as compost, which will ensure quality grapes for next season. Justin, one of the head wine makers at LaBelle, mentioned that their winery is looking to partner with a brewery in upstate New York in the near future to further reduce waste. LaBelle will send dried grape skins to this brewery where they will be used to add unique flavors to beer. No waste from LaBelle’s wine making practice is sent to a landfill.

Next, we took our knowledge about American wineries and decided to expand into French wine. French winemakers by nature ere towards larger corporate wineries, as this is the only way to keep up with the demands. The main goal of French winemaking is to create a high quality, traditional wine unique to the location where the vineyard is located. A popular ideology in France is that nature is theirs to domesticate; they value nature when it is organized and clean cut, not disheveled and wild. Therefore they manipulate and use the environment to create traditional wines, and they’re not going to sacrifice the quality of wine for the sake of environmental consciousness.  Larger wineries tend to focus more on social and economic pressures, with the end goal being to make as much high quality product as possible, as fast as possible. These wineries tend to focus more on streamlining the process of making their wine to become more efficient.  Any push towards sustainability in large wineries results only from a social or economic standpoint and often times does not even have the environment in mind out than for the sake of improving their value to the public eye. Smaller local wineries have a tendency to focus more on environmental pressures focus on how to make their winemaking practice sustainable from the environmental dimension. They look at more factors relating to carbon emissions, reducing waste, and healthy treatment of soil and land. Larger wineries necessary in France are, by nature, less sustainable than their smaller peers.

Organic and biodynamic methods of winemaking are becoming popular in France, among other places.  Winemaking is considered organic if no synthetic fertilizers, plant treatments or herbicides are used in the grape growing process. Genetically modified organisms are considered not organic. Biodynamic winemaking encompasses all of the practices of organic farming, with the addition of attempting to work the vineyard in conjunction with natural cycles.  One example of a biodynamic practice is to plant seeds during specific lunar phases, which aims to increase plant health by matching growth with the natural rhythm of the earth.  Biodynamic practices aim  incorporate preparations such as this to stimulate the soil and enhance plant health and the quality of the produce.  While these practices are (controversially) important to sustainability, these alone do not make-up what is considered “sustainable” farming. Oftentimes the exact factors that are required to be considered organic or biodynamic are loose and seldom regulated. Many companies slap “organic” labels onto their products without any commitment to sustainability for the sake of charging higher prices.  Additionally, genetically modified organisms are not inherently harmful (while the companies that make them might be) and some modifications can promote sustainability of produce. This possible benefit is often bypassed by public fear of the unknown when it comes to genetically modified organisms, as well as a history of the companies that produce genetically modified organisms using these organisms to take advantage of marginalized groups. These issues, in addition to the many arguments that some organic practices themselves are not sustainable can create and ugly name for organic in the food industry, but the buzz and popularity of organic products is a step in the right direction.

While organic and biodynamic sustainable practices are on the rise, many vineyards in France are hesitant  to make any changes for fear of interfering with terroir. Currently only 8.4% of vineyards in France use organic practices and, despite fear of terroir disturbance, use 60,000 tons of pesticides annually.  Paradoxically, pesticide usage can be incredibly harmful to humans, animals and, on a larger scale, entire ecosystems. The rampant overuse of pesticides could be doing more damage to French terroir than organic or biodynamic could ever possibly do.  Not only does this pesticide usage hurt the environment, but it can also pose serious public health risks. Measurements have been put in place to create certain methods to which French wineries must adhere to in regards to chemical usage. While France’s pesticide use is ridiculously high, the limits and regulations show hope for a stronger push towards sustainability.  France has been historically stubborn at changing their traditional practices, so it comes as no surprise that the French would be resistant towards changing the process of wine, their most famous export. People associate wine with France more than anything and France might not want to change that, taking on an “If it ain't broke don’t fix it” mentality.

To truly increase sustainability, vineyards need to start working with scientists. If we wish to gain a better understanding of exactly how much viticultural production contributes to the production of methane and nitrous oxide, people, and farmers especially need to stop grouping science and agriculture are two separate things.  Nitrous Oxide and Methane are the most potent greenhouse gases that are contributing to global warming, with Methane being four times stronger than carbon dioxide.  As the need for sustainable produce increases, more and more research is being poured into agriculture, starting with the soil.  The biggest issue within this subject is that there is little to no long-term research that specifically focuses on how viticultural processes contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.  In particular, more research should be done on the following subjects: the levels of nitrous oxide production as a result of fertilization and irrigation methods, factors related to vineyard carbon sequestration such as vine biomass and cover crop biomass, and how long-term vineyard management impacts greenhouse gas emissions. Since there are simply so many gaps in knowledge, there isn’t an easy way to regulate vineyard’s carbon budgets and decrease overall emissions. It’s crucial that research is done, especially in France where climate is so integral to maintaining traditions and standards of winemaking.