Sustainability in the Vineyard

Winery insights

BY: CHARLES METCALFE

Rita Nabeiro, CEO, Adega Mayor

We’re part of Delta Café, started by my grandfather. He started the wine project in 2007 to create more jobs in the region. We had to give back to the community and improve the environment. I approached João Barroso and he told me about the Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Programme (WASP).

The quick wins were easy – measuring electricity and water use. We thought about biodiversity and how it could impact production. We considered how we could involve the team, the community and suppliers. We know ESG (environmental, social, governance) is becoming more and more important. It was difficult to gather reliable data and we know we need to become more ambitious (converting to organic viticulture, for instance).

But we’re benefiting from the insights all WASP producers can share.

It’s a never-ending job, but we’re really proud of what we’re doing.

Alexandre Relvas

Junior, executive president, Casa Relvas

It has been complicated. We have 280ha of vines plus five main grape suppliers. We took on an employee to do all the paperwork for the application. It took a year, and was hard, because it was the first time this certification had been done. There were a lot of worries over the audit, but actually we were successful first time.

There are great opportunities on the commercial side. For instance, Sweden has created a tender for a WASP wine.

And it has helped in the general effort in Portugal to get people talking to each other, which was not always the case before.

We’re very satisfied. It has been a long journey, but we have been pioneers. Before long, this will probably become mandatory.

Luis Patrão, manager of winemaking and viticulture, Herdade de Coelheiros

We took the decision to join the project in 2017 when sustainability became one of the main pillars of the estate´s development strategy. We found WASP to be a great benchmark and roadmap for achieving these goals more quickly.

We aim to conserve the estate´s biodiversity and to improve the soil´s fertility. We want to be more efficient in the use of water and energy, and to help rebalance the ecosystem to assist in pest management. We need to prepare Coelheiros for climate change!

Now we have the certification, we will have better opportunities to sell our wines into more interesting markets where sustainability is embraced. And of course, it will help us to reduce water and energy waste and improve business profitability.

Miriam Mascarenhas,

sustainability manager, Herdade dos Grous

Our winemaker, Luís Duarte, has always felt the estate should be based on sustainable principles. We have always moved towards regenerative and organic farming. So it was obvious to sign up for the WASP programme, and we were certified in 2020.

We have preserved biodiversity, providing habitats for pollinators and other native species. We have protected our soils by planting beneficial mixes of seeds. We have reduced electricity and water use. We use only cartons, barrels and corks from certified sustainably managed forests.

We have reduced our carbon footprint, and are making an annual commitment to reduce greenhouse gases and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Like most other WASP-certified producers, the investments have been considerable.

All in all, our work will guarantee that the next generation will have at least the same, and ideally better, conditions for ensuring sustainable farming.

Helena Manuel, farm manager, Herdade dos Lagos

For us, sustainability is not a recent fashion, it has been the continuous work of more than 40 years. We added the support for this project to our existing organic certification, to give us more control over our resources.

The main challenge was the bureaucratic side, implementing procedures and making them measurable. But they were extremely important to realise what we were already doing well, and where there are opportunities to improve.

The WASP certification, together with our organic certification, makes us more visible to the final consumer. It all increases the reputation and reliability of our wines, and directly aids sales in markets that value sustainable principles.

Pedro Ribeiro, general manager and winemaker, Herdade do Rocim

Sustainability has been part of our DNA from the beginning of our winery. Preserving our ecosystem and our natural resources have been among our values from the start, so once the WASP programme was created we just felt joining was a natural move.

We were very familiar with sustainability concepts so we can´t say there was any particular wall to overcome, but we felt it pushed us to be better, and to have a more organised mindset over some choices and procedures. We felt we were continuously learning and upgrading our processes, with more awareness of the right directions to take.

The major reward and our biggest goal is the progress in ensuring we are preserving our ecosystem and becoming more and more sustainable.