SUSTAINABILITY IN THE VINEYARD
Winery insights BY: CHARLES METCALFE
Rita Nabeiro, CEO, Adega Mayor We’re part of Delta Café, started by my grandfather. He started the wine project in 2007 to create more jobs in the region. We had to give back to the community and improve the environment. I approached João Barroso and he told me about the Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Programme (WASP). The quick wins were easy – measuring electricity and water use. We thought about biodiversity and how it could impact production. We considered how we could involve the team, the community and suppliers. We know ESG (environmental, social, governance) is becoming more and more important. It was difficult to gather reliable data and we know we need to become more ambitious (converting to organic viticulture, for instance). But we’re benefiting from the insights all WASP producers can share. It’s a never-ending job, but we’re really proud of what we’re doing.
Alexandre Relvas Luis Patrão, manager Junior, executive of winemaking and president, Casa Relvas viticulture, Herdade de Coelheiros It has been complicated. We have 280ha of vines plus five main grape suppliers. We took on an employee to do all the paperwork for the application. It took a year, and was hard, because it was the first time this certification had been done. There were a lot of worries over the audit, but actually we were successful first time. There are great opportunities on the commercial side. For instance, Sweden has created a tender for a WASP wine. And it has helped in the general effort in Portugal to get people talking to each other, which was not always the case before. We’re very satisfied. It has been a long journey, but we have been pioneers. Before long, this will probably become mandatory.
We took the decision to join the project in 2017 when sustainability became one of the main pillars of the estate´s development strategy. We found WASP to be a great benchmark and roadmap for achieving these goals more quickly. We aim to conserve the estate´s biodiversity and to improve the soil´s fertility. We want to be more efficient in the use of water and energy, and to help rebalance the ecosystem to assist in pest management. We need to prepare Coelheiros for climate change! Now we have the certification, we will have better opportunities to sell our wines into more interesting markets where sustainability is embraced. And of course, it will help us to reduce water and energy waste and improve business profitability.
Vinhos do Alentejo 13
