IWCA - International Wineries for Climate Action

Canada’s Okanagan Valley, home to IWCA wineries CedarCreek Estate Winery and Okanagan Crush Pad Organic Winery, was once considered a cool climate region. No longer. CedarCreek Winemaker and Director of Sustainability Taylor Whelan recalls the destructive summer of 2021, when temperatures in their vineyards reached 50C — and the extreme cold of the winter that year. These dramatic temperatures have become a new normal, leading to smaller crops and challenges in vine health and wine balance. If that wasn’t enough to deal with: the region has experienced four of the most destructive wildfire seasons on record over the past seven years.   🛑 Climate action is not a choice. 🛑

By understanding the unique emissions "hotspots" within their value chain, a company can devise a concrete roadmap for action — and continuously refine and identify action areas over time with new data. Aggregated baseline inventory data from IWCA’s member wineries shows a few major hotspots that account for the majority of emissions in wine. But there are also dozens of other activities that, taken altogether, also make a real difference in achieving #NetZero. These sources of emissions are both under a company’s direct control to tackle (Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions) and under the responsibility of value chain partners (Scope 3) — demonstrating the need for an industry-wide climate action agenda.

Do not disturb…the earth! #NoTilling 🌱 April is Earth Month, and we’re putting the spotlight on the diverse ways we strive to take better care of Mother Nature at Domaine Bousquet. 🌎 As a proud member of the IWCA - International Wineries for Climate Action, and a champion of #Sustainable, Regenerative Organic and #Biodynamic farming, we’re always on the hunt for new ways to not only protect but to improve our natural environment for generations to come. 🍇 Starting from the ground up, we have ceased tilling our estate vineyard soils in Gualtallary for the past 24 months and counting! This simple yet impactful practice of not turning over the topsoil between vintages protects the delicate balance of billions of beneficial microbes that thrive there. 💧 Keeping the natural status quo of our soils also helps with water retention that can serve our vines during drier months, and prevents the captured carbon from being released into the atmosphere. We put our trust in Mother Nature, and we have learned that sometimes it’s best to stand back and let her do her thing… #EarthMonth #DomaineBousquet #OrganicWine

Awareness of the problem is one thing. Turning commitment into action is another. That comes down to people. Crimson Wine Group, IWCA Member in California, has mobilized staff from all corners of the company around its climate action goals. ▶️ To help mainstream sustainability in organizational culture and decision-making, the company has created a 25-person carbon council (equivalent to ~15% of Crimson’s full-time workforce) representing staff across departments. ↪️ The council, and company, have then organized their climate action efforts across sub-categories: measurements, solutions, and communications. ➡️ And in the past few years, Crimson has conducted its first audited GHG inventory, reduced its Scope 1 emissions, shifted to significantly lighter glass bottles, and planted a mini-forest to protect local fauna.

We’re building a movement to decarbonize the wine sector. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made. We also know there’s so much more to do. The wine sector can get there, but it will require wine companies to put climate action at the forefront of their business and winemaking practices. Join our movement: www.iwcawine.org

Nigel Greening and his team at Felton Road Wines Limited experienced a breakthrough in their sustainability practices when three buses came at once. No, this isn’t a piece about three literal buses. But we do love his metaphor for embracing change through interconnected solutions. In this real-life story, Nigel shares the “aha moments” that drove the New Zealand winery to adopt cutting edge tech solutions and change their approach to vineyard management. It’s a fascinating — and entertaining! — read. Dive in: https://lnkd.in/gTBhba_5

Our collective efforts at IWCA are driven by one core mission: to decarbonize the wine sector. In service of this mission, we offer peer community, standardized methodologies, best practices, and visibility to accelerate wineries’ individual efforts. 🍇 With appreciation for Aymeric de Gironde and the full team at Château Troplong Mondot for their visionary leadership!

#prowein2024 was memorable for a few reasons (our first time participating!), but most of all, because of all of the IWCA extended family members we were able to meet — finally, in person! As we celebrate our 5 years in 2024, we were thrilled to informally gather over a dozen of our member wineries from Spain, Portugal, Chile, North Macedonia, France, Australia, and the United States to toast our momentum and future directions. And we’re excited to welcome new wineries into the fold in the coming weeks…!

Climate action isn’t just about making a commitment. It’s about setting ambitious, concrete targets for change — and meeting them. We’re proud to be 46 wine companies strong across 11 countries and 5 continents. Each of the companies you see below has set the ambitious goal of reaching Net Zero by 2050, and they are concretely leading the charge towards this goal.

We're in full swing at #Prowein2024! Be sure to stop by our stand at Hall 10 K30 to try 30+ low-emission wines, meet our Executive Director Charlotte Hey, and chat all things climate action in wine. Plus, coming up on Monday (tomorrow!) at 11am: a special discussion on regenerative viticulture with The Regenerative Viticulture Foundation.