SWBC Certified represents the next generation of global certification standards, adapted to the BC winegrowing industry. The goal is to position BC wineries and growers as sustainability leaders worldwide. Ultimately, success will depend on the cooperative efforts of wineries, grape growers and industry stakeholders working individually and together.

“We’ve made some good strides towards our goal of reducing our per case energy consumption by 25% by 2025. We know we’ve still got a long way to go, but we just keep chipping away at it. Sustainability seems to be something that all of our departments are quick to band together on, I think it’s something people feel good about. Besides the obvious environmental benefits, we’ve also been saving a few thousand dollars a year in energy costs by making some pretty simple changes.”

Our recent study of 12 wine-growing regions around the world concluded that BC can expect the following economic benefits from sustainability certification:

Up on a hill between the Muscat vines at Lastella winery, three head-high rows of woodchips are baking away in the sun. Vineyard manager Jody Subotin probes the end of a pile with a two foot long temperature gauge, checking on the compost pile’s progress. At the end of one row, a large pile of grape skins and stems is steaming. The enormous compost pile is the winery’s natural fertilizer experiment for 10 of their 70 acres of vines.