Sustainable Winegrowing BC Certifications

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.

While O’Rourke is the first grower certified under SWBC, he credits a group of influential growers for getting the program started. “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 sustainability 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 Canada,” 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.

Graham and Lyndsey O'Rourke of Tightrope Winery were first to be certified under SWBC.

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In Tightrope’s case that includes the privilege of labeling their 2020 white wines as ‘certified sustainable’. Lorch’s grapes are contracted to cross the road and become part of neighbouring Wild Goose Vineyards wine production. Wild Goose themselves are not yet certified and are not able to use the sustainable label, but the winery has registered for the certification process. While SWBC is clearly an industry driven program, it fits well with an increasing consumer consciousness. “Consumers want accountability from farmers,” says Lorch. “They want to know that we are using the best practices and management that we can, and if there is a certain standard that farmers have to follow, that has more weight than people just saying that they do it.”

Sustainability proponents are betting that the certification will draw a new breed of customer. “We hope to attract people who are of like mind as us,” says O’Rourke. As Lorch gets to know her vineyard and the industry, there are two aspects that she is particularly proud of. “I am really working on building my soil,” she notes. In her first two years she spread 30 tons of compost and this year it was 60 tons, all by hand. Her vineyard has a drop-off to a second bench and the steep slope is all natural vegetation, including antelope brush, a plant that is considered critically imperiled in BC. “I am working with the Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Society as a habitat steward,” she says. “They are planning to come this fall to help establish some more native plants in a bare gravel area on the slope.” It’s harder for Tightrope to point to one particular practice that stands out. “It’s the way I learned to farm,” says O’Rourke. “After Lyndsay and I completed our masters programs in New Zealand, the management company that I worked for was part of the sustainability program in New Zealand. He says Tightrope incorporates a lot of technology to support their business. “We have a Ranch weather station system with three different locations that constantly collects soil temperature soil moisture and degree days. I have been doing that since 2011,” says O’Rourke. “We utilize the science, we utilize the technology, but our approach is always the vineyard first.” After completing the self assessment, candidates find themselves needing to gather data to present to the auditor. “In a business our size where the winemaker and the farmer are partners and have a lot of background, we don’t tend to write a lot of things down,” says O’Rourke. “I have a vineyard management plan, but it’s in my head. I track how I manage all of my nutrients, but I don’t plan it ahead of time. Certainly we train our employees, but now we have it all in a binder. The SWBC program has forced us to rethink how we start each season.” Lorch says she felt very supported going through the process. “SWBC has good resources to follow and a good network of people,” she says. “Everyone was ready to help with guidance.” Overall the program makes good business sense. The more you fine tune the management of your business, the more economically feasible everything becomes, says Lorch. “I am spending a lot of money on compost but in the future I will need to use less synthetic fertilizer.” she explains. “So it actually helps both the environment and the bottom line.”

“Our overall goal is to leave the land a better place after using it,” adds O’Rourke. “We want both the consumer and the industry to know that we know, and practice, what is the responsible thing to do.” 

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Heidi Lorch of Heidi’s Peak vineyard in OK Falls.