Farming and land management

Lion Nathan wineries were part of the group carbon and water footprint determination. This is the first time our wine business’ footprint has been measured and the results will allow us to analyse outcomes and decide on possible actions.

Certification

The wine industry increasingly is being asked to show its environmental credentials. In Australia, as around the world, retailers, restaurants and consumers are looking to buy or offer wines that meet modern standards for environmental stewardship.

EntWine Australia is a voluntary environmental assurance scheme that allows winemakers and wine grape growers to receive formal certification of their practices according to recognised standards. Members can carry the EntWine Australia logo and are listed on the EntWine Australia Register. To qualify for membership, companies must:

• be certified against a recognised, independently audited environmental certification program and be audited at least every three years
• report a scope 1 and 2 carbon footprint each year
• report each year against the EntWine Australia indicators

St. Hallett, Tatachilla, Knappstein, Mitchelton and Petaluma are all members of EntWine.

In addition Argyle is one of the first Low Input Viticulture and Oenology (LIVE) certified sustainable wineries in Oregon, USA. LIVE is a non-profit organisation, which provides education and certification for vineyards using international standards of sustainable viticulture practices in wine production. These practices are based on a scoring system consisting of basic required practices, prohibited practices and numerous ecological options. The winery uses biodiesel in its tractors and its wine shipping packaging is made from recycled material.

Argyle is also a member of Oregon Certified Sustainable Wine, which showcases the Oregon wine industry’s commitment to responsible, sustainable vineyard and winery practices. An independent third party certifies both the agricultural and winemaking processes involved in its production.

In New Zealand, Sustainable Winegrowing NZ (SWNZ) is a set of industry standards that were developed to allow grape growers and winemakers to protect the environmental integrity of wine production. Our Wither Hills winery was part of the pilot program, which helped establish the standards, and has been accredited since 2003. All company owned vineyards and wine produced at Wither Hills is now accredited to SWNZ.

Organic farming

Wither Hills is well under way with the three-year conversion of a vineyard to organic production and will harvest its first fully organic grapes in 2012. In 2010, three more vineyard areas were converted, making a total of 40.8ha now under organic management. Management practices employed on these vineyards include mechanical under-vine weeding instead of using herbicides, planting cover crops to enhance biodiversity and increase soil fertility, making compost from harvest waste (grape marc) and using sheep to graze the property instead of mowing (at certain periods in the year).

Biodiversity

At LNNF, we recognise the importance of maintaining a diverse range of endemic species coexisting within a balanced habitat. In FY10 our established biodiversity related projects continued to flourish. At Petaluma, our Cox's Creek rehabilitation is in its eighth year. The cleared and replanted area is growing well and the section, which runs along the Heysen long-distance walking trail adjacent to the Bridgewater Mill now parallels the original mill race which fed the pond above the big wheel. The stone lining of the old channel is visible and the surrounding scrub has attracted a diverse range of birds, including the superb blue wren, and some native mammals.

At St. Hallett’s the eucalypt plantation on the banks of the North Para River near Tanunda is being transformed into a haven for local and rare birds. The river acts as the single most important natural corridor for wildlife through the Barossa region. We are building and installing a range of different sized bird and bat breeding and roosting boxes throughout the wastewater eucalypt plantations in an attempt to make the area more attractive to native wildlife. To date, four nesting boxes have been built and installed and we have collected recycled materials for a further 50. The boxes have already attracted the rarely seen and threatened Crested Shrike Tit and the Nankeen Night Heron.

Wither Hills’ Rarangi wetlands are of significant ecological value to the Marlborough region as they form part of the largest freshwater wetland complex in the Wairau Plains. The wetlands have been listed in several ecological reports as having high conservation value due to their indigenous biological diversity. Wither Hills’ conservation project at the wetlands includes major weed eradication and control, the replanting of natives as well as protecting the rare flora, Mazus novaezeelandiae spp. impolitus, which has been listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This project has been largely led by Wither Hills’ staff and a local ecologist, in conjunction with the Marlborough District Council and the Biodiversity Fund of New Zealand.

Climate change

All wine brands have undertaken planning discussions about adaptation to climate change and we have already begun exploring alternative varieties to mitigate against any change in climate. For example, Petaluma has planted Nebbiolo on its vineyard in Coonawarra. Two different clones, selected for their viticultural attributes and suitability to the region, were planted over 1ha in 2007 and 2008. In Petaluma’s Shining Rock vineyard in Mount Barker, a warmer sub-region of the Adelaide Hills, two clones of Sangiovese have been planted over 1ha.

Tatachilla in the hills of McLaren Vale in South Australia has also planted Sangiovese, a variety which has historically thrived in areas of Italy that have access to little water in the summer. Another resilient variety the winery is trialling is Vermentino, which typically grows in Sardinia, arguably the most arid, windy part of the Mediterranean.

Knappstein has planted 2ha of Petit Manseng on two different sites in the northeast corner of the Clare Valley in South Australia, which it harvested in 2010. The variety is most commonly planted in southwest France.

In Victoria, Mitchelton’s recently installed weather station is being used to measure vital climatic parameters to determine long-term trends. The station is also facilitating a more judicious use of water.

The winery’s irrigation water is sourced from the Goulburn River. This has a negative impact on environmental flow, particularly during drought years. The weather station measures several climatic indices including temperature, relative humidity, class A evaporation, rainfall, leaf wetness and wind speed/direction. The data is collected using radio telemetry technology and is continuously logged and interpreted to make informed decisions about disease management and irrigation scheduling.

The station also has the capacity to log soil moisture data via remote capacitance probes located throughout the vineyard. These critical tools are providing a further boost to the winery’s water saving efforts, which began in 2006, when it was selected from 4,500 applicants for a $45,000 grant to upgrade its waste water treatment system. Since then it has recreated the wastewater recycling wetlands system and in FY10 recycled 15 million litres of water, reducing the pressure on the threatened Goulburn River. Since being awarded the grant the winery has also created a habitat and environment, which has encouraged local common and threatened birds, flora and fauna to flourish.

Stonier plans to emulate the reed-bed waste water-recycling system that Mitchelton introduced at the end of 2010. This project, already approved by the Environmental Protection Authority will facilitate the recycling all of the winery’s wastewater. Stonier has also planted buckwheat throughout the vineyards to encourage insects to control light brown apple moth (thus negating the need for insecticide). Organic matter has been increased in the vineyards resulting in a higher vine tolerance of drier conditions. Sheep were grazing in many of Stonier’s nearby vineyards in 2010, reducing the need to use a tractor four times a year. The grazing also negates the need for herbicides and increases the organic matter in the soil.

Conservation

The heritage-listed cottage at Bridgewater Mill is original: built to house the manager when the Mill first opened around 1860. In recent years it had began to decay through lack of maintenance, However, to preserve a valuable community asset, in FY10 Lion Nathan provided funding ($115,000) to replace internal rafters and floor beams, re-point stonework and stabilise and secure it to prevent further damage from the elements and vandals. A second tranche of funding is being provided in FY11 to convert the building into a small bed and breakfast.