Wineries are at odds over whether to back the industry’s Sustainable Winegrowing programme.
Over 95% of this country’s vineyard area is part of the industry’s sustainable-winegrowing push. But Terry Dunleavy, a former executive officer of the Wine Institute, has 
reservations. “We’ve conned ourselves into a preoccupation with sustainability on the environmental front rather than sustainability on the economic front.”
Fungicides, herbicides and insecticides are used in New Zealand vineyards. In the bad old days – 20 years ago – vines were sprayed fortnightly, regardless of any insect or disease threats.
But when the industry set out to boost exports, according to New Zealand Winegrowers, it found “the UK, our major emerging market, was beset with worries over mad-cow disease, and the public were starting to express greater concern about what was in their food … In response, retailers have become ‘choice editors’ for their customers; they pre-select products that match their customers’ values.”
The Sustainable Winegrowing programme, launched just before the 2000 vintage, was guided by three principles: environmental soundness (a vineyard must retain the same land-use capability over time); social responsibility (creating a safer place for people); and economic viability. Vineyard workers monitor the plants for signs of insects and disease, spraying only at certain thresholds.
Pernod Ricard NZ, the country’s wine giant, says the impact of sustainable winegrowing on its vineyards has been “immense”. But Robin Dicey, an expert viticulturist and part-owner of Mt Difficulty, in Central Otago, criticised sustainable winegrowing as being “more concerned with irrelevancies than the real business of ensuring the long-term sustainability of the industry”.
Many wineries have baulked at the paperwork. By late 2007, 65 of 570 wine companies had signed up. However, since the 2010 vintage, all wines in New Zealand Winegrowers promotional events – such as export campaigns and the Air New Zealand Wine Awards – have been required to be produced under an audited sustainability scheme, adding a degree of compulsion to Sustainable Winegrowing.
But is sustainable winegrowing sustainable? In 2007, the Soil & Health Association of NZ dubbed the Wairau Valley “Herbicide Valley”, claiming that 70% of vineyard land in Marlborough was herbicide-sprayed for frost protection (bare earth radiates heat better.) New Zealand Winegrowers rejected the figure.
Another key concern is consumers’ lack of awareness. Last month, the Wine and Spirit Education Trust organised a debate about vineyard production methods for the London wine trade. “What was very evident from the debate was that the term ‘sustainable viticulture’ has little recognition …”
All the vineyards of the country’s biggest wine producer, Pernod Ricard NZ (formerly Montana), are Sustainable Winegrowing-approved. However, managing director Fabian Partigliani was reported last August in the Marlborough Express saying he believed the certification lacks credibility overseas, because New Zealand is seen to be endorsing itself as sustainable.
Does promoting sustainability as the key message work for wineries in the market? Not according to Peter McAtamney, an Australian consultant who formerly managed loss-making Grove Mill, New Zealand’s first winery to win CarboNZero certification. McAtamney believes producers should focus on well-branded, quality wines, with sustainability just part of their story.
Judy Fowler, of Puriri Hills, in South Auckland, represents small producers on the board of New Zealand Winegrowers. She wants less paperwork. “Our reputation is about the quality of the wine, not whether we are certified as sustainable.”
Matua Valley co-founder Ross Spence argued recently in New Zealand Winegrower magazine that “the main reason the sustainable wine focus is happening here so strongly right now is to keep supermarkets in the UK happy. We know the main things the wine consumer cares about are price and value for money …”
A recent review of Sustainable Winegrowing by Agribusiness found that South Africa is outperforming New Zealand in terms of perceptions about the sustainability of its wine industry.
Late last year New Zealand Winegrowers released the results of a strategic review it commissioned of its operations. It recommended giving sustainability greater promotion, and the organisation has already “begun initiatives to reduce compliance costs”.