Sustainable Models of Viticulture

Question 1

IPM: Integrated Pest Management

Answer 1

IPM is considered a sustainable approach to weed, insect, and disease problems that tolerates the targeted application of some synthetic products, but limits their use overall. Often, IPM is utilized as a vineyard transitions from conventional to organic viticulture, or it may be a part of a separate sustainability philosophy.

Question 2

VINEA

Answer 2

A voluntary group of Walla Walla Valley winegrowers who promote a holistic, socially- and environmentally-responsible methodology. VINEA winegrowers may not be exclusively organic, but they do farm in accordance with the standards set forth by LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology, a third-party certifying system) and the vineyards are certified as Salmon-Safe.

Question 3

Demeter Biodynamic Trade Association

Answer 3

The controversial concept of biodynamic viticulture takes the concepts of organic and sustainable farming and combines them with an almost mystical sensibility. Observing the rhythms and forces of the Earth is, in the ideal of biodynamic farming, intrinsically tied to the success of any ecosystem—the farm, in concert with the cosmic periphery, becomes a whole organism, generating its own fertility as governed by the cycle of seasons and lunar activity. Truly biodynamic vineyard workers will time their various tasks by motions of celestial bodies—particularly the moon. Introduced by the Austrian Rudolf Steiner in 1924 and today personified by Nicolas Joly of the Loire, biodynamic agriculture requires the yearly application of homeopathic preparations, produced from such animal and mineral substances as dandelion flowers, stinging nettles, and “horn manure” to ritually treat and heal the soil. Biodiversity and soil rotation are emphasized. The Demeter Biodynamic Trade Association certifies biodynamic farms and vineyards internationally. Many are skeptical of the biodynamic model, and the resulting wines may be wasteful or revelatory—depending on whom one asks.

Question 4

LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology, a third-party certifying system)

Answer 4

The vineyards are certified as Salmon-Safe.

Question 5

Oregon Sustainable Certified Wine (OSCW)

Answer 5

Oregon’s producers are at the forefront of sustainable approaches, and may label their wines as Oregon Sustainable Certified Wine (OSCW) provided 97% of fruit is certified by Salmon-Safe.

Question 6

USDA Organic

Answer 6

Must certify both the fruit and the winery.

Question 7

California Certified Sustainable Winegrowing

Answer 7

California Certified Sustainable Winegrowing (CERTIFIED SUSTAINABLE), administered by the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA), provides incremental certification for wineries and vineyards based on a concept of continual improvement.