These wines are packaged in lightweight glass bottles weighing 356g or less – a saving of almost 25% of the glass used in an average bottle. Lighter glass means a cut in carbon emissions from both the manufacturing process and transportation.

 

The producers of these wines are neither certified organic, biodynamic nor ISO14001 but are notable for their drive and enthusiasm when it comes to taking action to protect the environment and to promote sustainability. Activities include supporting local biodiversity projects, following integrated pest management systems to minimise chemical use and drastically reducing the amount of water they use.

 

These producers in developing countries ensure labour rights for their workers and are certified ethical traders. We also have Fairtrade wines from Argentina and South Africa that go beyond this and directly help

community projects in villages where the winery workers and grape growers live.

 

Many of our producers are now certified with ISO14001. This may sound a little dull but this series of international standards helps to create an environmental management system to guide and audit work in the winery as well as the vineyard.

 

Only natural fertilizers may be used; chemical herbicides and pesticides are banned; only certain natural preparations may be used against rot or mildew. Many winemakers who practice organic viticulture prefer not to go through a certification process – they just farm that way because it’s better for the wine.

 

 

Biodynamic viticulture views the soil (and indeed the Earth) as a living entity, with daily and seasonal rhythms influenced by the positions of the moon, planets and stars. A holistic approach respects these forces and implements the use of special preparations instead of chemicals which enhance the growing conditions.

 

As Josh Jensen of Calera put it – Simplicity = Complexity. If you want top produce the best wine, make in the most simple way. That means working organically and biodynamically. Reducing the carbon footprint will be included in any environmental management system and some of our producers have gone one step further and are also carbon neutral.

 

Also known as minimal intervention. Grapes are grown in a vineyard that is farmed organically or biodynamically (see above). Grapes are harvested by hand, fermentation occurs using only indigenous yeasts naturally present in the vineyard and cellar, allowing the true flavours of the grapes and the mineral qualities of the soil to be expressed. Sulphur Dioxide is not used or is limited to as small a dose as possible. Wine-making without SO2 is difficult, and requires, in the opinion of most natural wine-makers, grapes grown organically in vineyards with healthy wild yeast populations, as well as experience and careful work in the cellar, resulting in beautifully complex and pure aromatics and lovely flavours with more "terroir" character.