Sustainable Wine

The Future of Wine Forum, 26-27 November 2020

In this breakout session our panelists, three very different vineyard managers, discuss different perspectives on sustainable vineyard management.

Speakers:

• Sally Evans, owner and winemaker, Château George 7

Moderator:

• Jasper Morris MW

The Future of Wine Forum, 26-27 November 2020

If certification is really about claims being made, assurance is vital to support them. The wine industry, which has a long history of guarding terms and appellations, now has a confusing array of claims all over the market. It should welcome a Gold Standard with rigorous auditing and certification. Our panelists discuss how certification should evolve to tackle consumer label confusion, what we want to encourage with certification, how it can be used to create the right incentives and business case for producers, and more.

Speakers:

• Kim Forsberg, sustainability manager, Vingruppen i Norden (wine importer)

Moderator:

• Toby Webb, co-founder, Sustainable Wine

The Future of Wine Forum, 26-27 November 2020.

A global process of defining sustainability in wine would have multiple benefits. It would help – not threaten – existing programs, and would be a godsend to vineyard managers, winemakers and wine marketers. Our panelists discuss how to define sustainability in wine, the need for a global standard, or series of them, in the industry, how this could happen, pros and cons, and more.

Speakers:

• David Horlock, managing director, global food and retail supply chain, British Standards Institution

Moderator:

• Toby Webb, co-founder, Sustainable Wine

The Future of Wine Forum, 26-27 November 2020.

The virtual conference was kicked off with a discussion on the impacts of Covid-19 in the wine industry, with panelists discussing the opportunities, challenges, long term impacts and more.

Speakers:

• Jancis Robinson MW

Moderator:

• Richard Bampfield MW 

Hervé Berland talks with Toby Webb about the sustainability journey which Château Montrose has been on for some years, and why and how, capturing CO2 from fermentation is important.

Author of ‘Greener Marketing’ John Grant speaks to Toby Webb about how green marketing and sustainable wine might, or might not, suit each other.

Originally published on March 27, 2018.

Dave Powell, Torbreck founder, on starting again, and making great sustainable Shiraz with his new label, Powell & Son, in Barossa and Eden Valley in S Australia. This is a 20 minute podcast interview looking at the wines he makes, and his views on what is sustainable, natural, and biodynamic wine. 

Originally published on May 24, 2019.

I recently met with the delightful and charming Morgane Fleury in London. We spent half an hour or so discussing sustainable champagne. How you define it, how you make it, and how you can sell it at 22-25 Euros a bottle and still make a living. She and her family are biodynamic and sustainable pioneers in Champagne and the 20 minute podcast is packed with insight (from her, not me) Enjoy.

Originally published on December 4, 2018.

Interview with  Martins Barkans, owner of Abavas in Latvia. Martins makes fruit wines and Rhubarb sparkling, but also has five hectares of wine grapes, at one point with 40 varietals planted, to try and make wine at 57 degrees north (In UK terms that's Aberdeen). In this interview we talk about what he's trying to do, the varietals, the weather, burying vines, and how he's managed to make good white wine in Latvia, about as far North as you can get in wine making.

Originally published on June 13, 2019.

In early June 2019 I sat down in the wine library at 67 Pall Mall in London with Wilco. We talked about how he ended up in New Zealand, the wines he makes at Dry River, reductiveness in wine making, low oxygenation and phenolic compounds, his views on what sustainability means in the vineyard and winery, and on New Zealand and sustainability in wine, in general. Enjoy.