SWBC Issues First Sustainability Certificates By Tom Walker The first two recipients of certification from Sustainable Winegrowing BC (SWBC) are an old hand and a new hand in the business. One is Tightrope Winery co-owner and viticulturist Graham O’Rourke, who is one of the founders of the program and the first grower in the province to receive certification. The second is Heidi Lorch, who bought Heidi’s Peak vineyard in Okanagan Falls in 2019.
“A group of us started meeting in 2008 at the Summerland Research Station.” O’Rourke recalls. “A lot of us felt that a comprehensive and accountable program that encompassed every aspect of the growing and vinting process was important for the industry as it developed in BC.” There are a number of designations that the industry can receive, but they all have a specific focus. “Organic certification only covers your spray program, while Salmon Safe is about water quality,” O’Rourke points out. “We thought it was critical to connect all aspects of the wine making process from vine to bottle, from how you manage your waste to how you calculate your greenhouse gas emissions.” Over the last 12 years, committee members have developed a BC-based sus-
Photo by Tom Walker
While O’Rourke is the first grower certified under SWBC, he credits a group of influential growers for getting the program started.
Graham and Lyndsey O'Rourke of Tightrope Winery were first to be certified under SWBC.
tainability program. “That’s one of our strengths,” O’Rourke says. “We were able to look at the variety of programs that are out there, from New Zealand to Ontario, and develop one that matches our region, our climate, our situation.” Lorch is a newcomer to grape growing but she is a seasoned farmer with lots of experience with a sustainability program. She is the first independent grower to be certified. Lorch came west after selling her mixed farm in Ontario where she raised 35,000 chickens a year, as well as corn and soybeans for feed. “My pullet raising business was part of the national Start Clean, Stay Clean program through the Egg Farmers of Cana-
da,” Lorch explains. “We received yearly inspections that included having our record keeping audited, so it is an aspect of farming that I am used to following.” Lorch also got an early introduction to the BC program while completing the three-month viticulture certificate at OK college. “I did my final project on SWBC and I knew that was the direction I was headed for my own vineyard, so I started off with the required records from the start.” Both O’Rourke and Lorch have completed the SWBC online self-assessments, undergone the day-long inspection from SWBC auditors, and have received certification that entitles them to display the SWBC logo.
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