Sustainable Wine

SWR Member Interview: How Concha y Toro is accelerating climate action

In this Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR) Member Interview podcast, Hanna Halmari speaks with Valentina Lira, director of sustainability for Concha y Toro in Chile.

 

As one of the world’s ten largest wine companies, Concha y Toro has a unique opportunity to drive significant environmental change - and it’s not wasting any time doing so. The company has accelerated its net-zero target to 2040, advancing the goal by 10 years. Valentina shares how Concha y Toro is driving climate action, from implementing regenerative agriculture practices, to reducing bottle weight and transportation and distribution emissions. We also explore the importance of the Bottle Weight Accord, how to engage packaging suppliers to reduce bottle weight, and the progress Concha y Toro has made so far in these efforts.

What’s in store for the SWR in 2025?

2024 was an extraordinary year of collaboration, growth and impact for the SWR. We’ve entered the new year with momentum, excitement, and big plans ahead of us!

In this SWR update podcast, I speak with Dr Peter Stanbury, head of research, and Delaney Sheridan, operations manager, to find out more about our 2025 plans and what members can expect over the coming months.

If you’re interested in joining the SWR or getting involved in any of our action areas, please reach out to info@swroundtable.org.

Lighter wine, greater impact: Progress from one year of the BWA

The SWR's Bottle Weight Accord (BWA) launched in November 2023. To mark the one-year anniversary of the Accord, the SWR held a webinar to present the latest data and narratives from BWA signatories, to showcase the tangible results achieved so far.

The Accord is a core commitment by signatories to reduce their average bottle weight of 750ml still bottles to below 420g by the end of 2026. At the time of launch, the BWA had 8 signatories, primarily consisting of retailers. Now, a year later, it encompasses 20 participants and more than 1.5 billion wine bottles produced and sold. This represents around 5% of all wine production worldwide.

Listen to the webinar recording to hear first-hand experiences and key learnings from signatories on how they have implemented the Accord. Hear from:

• Dr Peter Stanbury, research director, SWR
• Rick Eplway, executive leader of merchandising, adult beverages, Whole Foods Market
• Dr Laura Catena, managing director, Bodega Catena Zapata
• Joe Olding, assistant buyer, Tesco

   

The Sustainable Wine Roundtable: 2024 in review

In this end of year podcast the Sustainable Wine Roundtable team review the progress made in 2024 and look ahead to the SWR's 2030 strategy.

Hear from the SWR's founder, Toby Webb, head of research, Dr Peter Stanbury, and head of operations, Delaney Sheridan, as they reflect on the positive developments and milestones achieved in various action areas, including the Bottle Weight Accord, Standards Benchmarking, Sustainable Viticulture Protocol, and more.

SWR Member Interview: Blending tradition, local knowledge, and sustainable practices in Chile

In this Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR) Member Interview podcast, Hanna Halmari speaks with Viviana Navarrete, the winemaker behind San Pedro TAYU and Viña Leyda. Both brands are part of Chile's VSPT Wine Group, one of the world's top 20 wine producers.

Viviana shares the inspiring story of San Pedro TAYU, a unique Pinot Noir produced in collaboration with the Indigenous Mapuche community in Chile's Malleco Valley, located in the Araucanía region. The partnership began in 2015 with two families and has since grown to include eleven families, with a total of 27.5 hectares of vineyards planted on the community’s own land. The community-centric project combines the Mapuche's traditional knowledge of the land with VSPT's expertise in viticulture, creating a long-term model for shared value creation and collaboration.

SWR Member Interview: Low carbon, high quality wines with Dr Laura Catena

In this Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR) Member Interview podcast Hanna Halmari speaks with Dr Laura Catena, managing director of Bodega Catena Zapata and Luca Winery. Laura is a fourth-generation Argentine vintner, physician, and wine writer. She holds a biology degree from Harvard University and a medical doctor degree from Stanford.

Laura is also the founder of the Catena Institute of Wine, which is dedicated to preserving Malbec and elevating Argentine wine since 1995. The Catena Institute is a founding member of the SWR, as well as a recent signatory of the SWR's Bottle Weight Accord.

Laura shares why Catena joined the accord, highlights their progress in lightweighting bottles, and emphasizes the importance of collaboration in addressing consumer misconceptions about bottle weight and wine quality.

SWR Member Interview: How to reduce chemical inputs and reshape viticultural practices

In this Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR) Member Interview podcast Hanna Halmari speaks with Prof. Dr. Mortiz Wagner from the Department of Applied Ecology at Geisenheim University in Germany.

They discuss the SWR's recently launched Sustainable Viticulture Protocol (SVP). The SVP is a shared framework for decision-making in relation to chemical use that aims to improve viticulture practices, with an emphasis on the reduction of chemical inputs and the adoption of regenerative techniques. The protocol was launched earlier this year, off the back of extensive research by an SWR inputs working group of which Moritz was part of.

Moritz shares key learnings from the research, why the protocol is necessary, and what progress he hopes to see over the next year.

SWR Webinar: The Role of Sustainability Standards in Wine

Globally, there are more than 40 sustainability standards in the wine sector. How do these, and the organisations behind them actually drive positive change on sustainability along the value chain? Where do they work well, and where are the gaps to fill? Moreover, what can be done to ensure that they are as effective as possible?

In this webinar we deep dive into the role of sustainability standards in shaping the future of the wine industry. We bring together leaders from standards organisations, retailers, and producers to explore how these standards influence operations from vineyard to market. We examine the practical challenges and benefits of adopting sustainability standards, with a focus on ensuring they are accessible and impactful for all stakeholders, including smaller producers.

Key discussion topics include:

• How sustainability standards drive best practices in vineyards, wineries, and supply chains.
• The challenge of inclusivity: ensuring smaller growers are not left behind.
• How standards are used by growers, and how they decide which ones to use
• How sustainability standards influence purchasing decisions and shape the market.
• What do consumers think? How standards affect their buying choices.

We also provide an exclusive preview of SWR’s upcoming benchmarking pilot results and discuss how our benchmarking process addresses the growing complexity of sustainability standards in wine.

Speakers:

• Will Drayton, Director Technical Viticulture, Sustainability & Research, Treasury Wine Estates (USA)
• Linda Johansson, Sustainability Manager, Systembolaget (Sweden)
• Kate Venugopal, International Marketing Sustainability Specialist, Wine Institute (USA)

Moderator: Dr. Peter Stanbury, Research Director, Sustainable Wine Roundtable

If you have any questions with regards to SWR’s sustainability standards benchmarking, please contact Dr. Peter Stanbury (Research Director) or Delaney Sheridan (Operations Manager).

 

SWR Member Interview: Redefining aluminum wine packaging

In this Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR) Member Interview podcast Hanna Halmari speaks with Jody Bogle, vice president of consumer relations at Bogle Family Vineyards.

They discuss Bogle’s new wine label, Element[AL] that launched earlier this year. The wine comes in a first-of-its-kind aluminium wine bottle - not a can, but a full-size wine bottle. Jody shares why they chose aluminum, what the process from inception to bottling looked like, and insights on consumer perceptions and marketing.

SWR Action Area Update: The Sustainable Viticulture Protocol in brief

The SWR recently launched the Sustainable Viticulture Protocol. The protocol is a shared set of steps that aims to reorient viticulture practices, with an emphasis on the reduction of chemical inputs and the adoption of regenerative techniques.

In case you missed the launch or you're short on time, you can listen to this podcast for a quick update on the protocol. Toby Webb, founder and executive director of the SWR, and director of research and standards Dr Peter Stanbury share the context behind the protocol, what we're trying to achieve, and next steps.