A growing number of B.C. winemakers are investing in sustainability — here's why

It's a sunny day in British Columbia's Okanagan, and Tony Stewart is surveying the Quail's Gate vineyard.

Stewart, the CEO of the family-run business, says the vines are still dormant at this time of year, but in a few weeks, buds will begin to form. 

"We had a little bit of a tough winter, and so the vineyards got some very cold weather, and we're worried about the outcome.

"But things are starting to move, and we're hoping there's less damage out there than maybe we first thought."

Sustainable practices

Colder winters and hotter summers are just some of the ways climate change has bedevilled B.C.'s wine-making industry over the past few years. The delicate vines can be easily damaged by wild weather, and increasingly, pervasive wildfire smoke can damage the grapes.

In response, winemakers like Quail's Gate are punching back, decreasing their carbon footprint and establishing sustainable practices like using less water, lighter packaging and fewer pesticides. 

In 2021, the tools for winemakers to help fight climate change were encapsulated in the Sustainable Winegrowing B.C. Certificate, an industry-led program tailor made for B.C. 

Quail's Gate's winery joined last month. It is the sixth B.C. winery to do so. The company's vineyard was certified last year. 

"I think B.C.'s very much ahead of the curve in this," Stewart said. "Most of my colleagues in the industry are ... taking a much greater interest in developing sustainable practices."

Ruth King, the Sustainable Winegrowing B.C. program manager, says the goal is to encourage more companies in the industry to do better. 

"I think it's a misconception that vineyards are these beautiful green places, and they produce fruits, and then they make fruit into wine, and it's just kind of a romantic, beautiful picturesque scene."

King says the reality is that there's a lot of room for improvement within the province's wine industry, particularly regarding the impact on the environment.  

The certificate, she says, has been years in the making.

The program takes a "holistic approach" to sustainability and environmental stewardship, she says, and even includes social factors like the treatment of workers and the economic viability of the business.  

For Quail's Gate, that also meant only including Ocean Wise-certified seafood on the menu at its restaurant. 

'It's a start'

Lenore Newman, the director of the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley, says B.C.'s wine industry is particularly vulnerable to climate change, and it makes sense for wine growers and makers to lessen their impact on the environment.

"It's really nice to see some of these certification programs developing because, of course, growing wine can be a fairly intensive industry," Newman said.

Grapes are a particularly sensitive crop, Newman says, and they can require a lot of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.

She says governments don't usually push for individual industries to develop sustainability standards for themselves.

Industry-led programs like the Sustainable B.C. Winegrowing certificate can let consumers know which wineries are "going the extra mile to hit sustainability objectives."

"The trick is the entire world needs to move towards sustainable practices, not just one industry," she said. "But hey, it's a start."

Stewart says Quail's Gate has taken on sustainable practices for about 15 years, so a lot of the certification process was about documenting the work already being undertaken there. 

The third-party endorsement can help wine producers stand out in a very competitive market, he says, with consumers increasingly demanding to know what producers are doing to lessen their carbon footprint. 

King, who manages the certificate, says the program does provide marketing support, but it also helps businesses analyze their operations to make them more efficient, thereby saving money. 

Stewarts says certification for the vineyard took about a year, and it was an additional six months for the winery to be certified. 

Looking to the future, Stewart says the company is looking for additional ways it can continue to improve, such as using electric vehicles or farm equipment.