VALES PASSES POWERFUL GREEN AROUND

"We don’t inherit the world from our parents, we borrow it from our children" ... Dr Irina Santiago-Brown quotes Antoine de Saint Exupery ... photo Philip White, taken at Irina's 24th  February 2014 marriage to Dudley Brown at Inkwell Wines, California Road, McLaren Vale.
  
MEDIA RELEASE
24 September 2014


Renowned Sustainability Program 
offered to Australian wine industry

The Sustainable Australia Winegrowing (SAW) program, developed by McLaren Vale’s grape growing community, is being offered to the wider Australian wine industry.

The program has been developed over the past five years with support from the South Australian government and is quickly becoming renowned for its comprehensive nature and long-term vision.

McLaren Vale Grape Wine & Tourism Association (MVGWTA) consultant CEO Marc Allgrove said the move to share the program is about investing in the future of the Australian wine industry.

“Our community has worked hard to develop Australia’s only true sustainability program for wine grapes and now, by opening it up to grape growers around the country, we hope that regions across the country will benefit,” Mr Allgrove said.

“Participating growers receive a comprehensive report on their sustainability status and have access to an on-line spray diary that correlates chemical usage with individual blocks which are located by GPS coordinates.

Some of the many growers who have worked together to create the Sustainable Winegrowing program in McLaren Vale ... now they're offering it to Australia


“The program will provide Australian growers and regions with meaningful benchmarks which will help increase understanding of regional issues and specific vineyard issues, along with providing pathways for continual development and improvement.

“This move to share the program is not about self-promotion or benevolence; rather it is based on a deeply held belief within the McLaren Vale community that sustainability does not work in isolation.”

Mr Allgrove also pointed to ways the program could be extended over time.

“The program is able to be adapted to meet the needs of other agriculture and horticulture industries, so the opportunities for Australian agribusiness are only limited by imagination and commitment,” he said.

“We look forward to supporting growers and regions as they adopt Sustainable Australia Winegrowing to meet their regional needs and, ultimately, to ensure Australia possesses the most comprehensive data set with which to assess and develop its national vineyard.”

Adelaide Hills grower Simon Berry, who supplies two McLaren Vale wineries, has been observing the program and interacting with growers using it.

“I’m attracted to the grower-friendly style of the program and the focus on site specific continuous improvement,” he said. 

 “The benchmarking and regional interaction with other growers creates a positive fraternity for change with measurable results.”

MVGWTA Sustainability Officer and local grower Dr Irina Santiago-Brown (left) recently completed her PhD at the University of Adelaide, reviewing sustainability programmes around the world.

Dr Santiago-Brown said her learnings have been applied in the development of Sustainable Australia Winegrowing.

“The system is about helping people to become better growers and allowing them to determine the path they want to follow to achieve that,” Dr Santiago-Brown said.

“SAW was conceived to promote continuous improvement of its members through a practical approach and peer-reviewed content.

“As Antoine de Saint Exupery wrote, ‘we don’t inherit the world from our parents, we borrow it from our children.’
 “Sustainable Australia Winegrowing is about the future; we must ensure that we hand over that for which we are responsible in a manner that ensures future generations can not only continue to enjoy what we enjoy today, but that they can also continue to make a living from it.”

Sustainable Winegrowing Australia is Entwine accredited and involves a participation fee of between $50 and $100 dollars (depending on state and region).

To become part of the program, visit www.sustainableaustralia.info. 

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