Bordeaux
March 7, 2022A British press article highlights Bordeaux wines
Mike Turner, a wine journalist, has published an article on The Buyer website, focusing on “Bordeaux Cultivons demain” (“Let’s Grow Bordeaux’s Future”) and the sustainable measures implemented within the Bordeaux wine industry. This article gives a superb highlight to winegrowers’ efforts! “The Buyer” is one of the most influential websites in the drinks industry (trends in the sector, product analaysis, digital platforms for sharing information…). This article follows on from the CSR press kit issued after the Environmental and Technical Forum organised by the CIVB on 7th December 2021.
Read Mike Turner’s article HERE
Here is an excerpt of the article :
New Bordeaux initiative puts CSR at front of sustainability drive
The wine industry in Bordeaux has a lot to live up to. Its status as arguably the most famous wine region in the world, and by far the biggest employer in the Gironde region of South-West France, brings great responsibility. The drive for a sustainable future includes loud calls for greater biodiversity and increasingly ecologically sound practices in vineyard and cellar. New initiatives coming out of Bordeaux, in particular Bordeaux Cultivons Demain, show an acute awareness that sustainability also needs to include the entire supply chain, with all stakeholders required to play their part in the social responsibility.
By Mike Turner February 13, 2022
“Château Lagrange is one of a handful of producers investing and researching the use of exoskeletons to strap to the vineyard workers to reduce the toll of muscles and joints during the arduous processes or planting, pruning, and harvesting,” writes Turner.
Through my company, Feel Good Grapes, I run private and corporate wine tastings and events. By far the most recurring theme that clients have brought up over the last two years has been the question of sustainability in the wine trade. This is true especially in the corporate tastings, as every client-facing industry in the world is currently trying to prove their own sustainability credentials in the face of consumer demand.
Consumers increasingly want that ‘feel good’ factor of knowing that their purchases or choices are contributing positively. Confusion, however, is rife on what sustainability really means. When asked, my very basic definition of sustainability is “if your company is still going to be doing what it’s doing now in 100 years’ time then you’re on your way.” That’s all well and good for me in a consumer tasting to get drinkers planted with a vague notion, but producers and stakeholders very obviously need a firm definition and one that truly reflects the challenges they face.
Definition of sustainability
The wine world is dotted with sustainability definitions across the globe. Most of these are compiled and then administered by the wine industry in that region or country, with famous examples in New Zealand or California. In France, however, the government has laid down its own definition; the Haute Valeur Environnementale (HVE) or ‘High Environmental Value’. Assessed across three increasingly progressive levels, it is the basis for all sustainable practices in French agriculture and is being widely adopted in all French wine regions.
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Read Mike Turner’s article HERE
