The California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA), established by Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers, has announced the introduction of a statewide certification program that provides third-party verification of a winery or vineyard’s adherence to a "process of continuous improvement" in the adoption and implementation of sustainable winegrowing practices.
Open to all California wineries and vineyards as a voluntary option, CSWA’s new program, Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing, requires applicants to meet 58 prerequisite criteria to be eligible for the program, assess winery and/or vineyard operations, create and implement an annual action plan and show improvement over time.
The goals of the new certification program are to enhance transparency, encourage statewide participation and advance the entire California wine industry toward best practices in environmental stewardship, conservation of natural resources and socially equitable business practices. Three years in the making, the certification program is the first statewide program available to both wineries and vineyards.
In addition, CSWA released its 2009 Wine Community Sustainability Report measuring the California wine industry’s adoption over five years of 227 best management practices from the Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Practices Self-Assessment Workbook.
The full 2009 Wine Community Sustainability Report is available online at the CSWA site. In addition, a three-minute video providing overall background on California’s sustainable winegrowing practices can be viewed and downloaded in various formats at: http://inr.mediaseed.tv/EcoWine_36816.
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