Wine Word of the Week: Sustainable viticulture
By Kori ~ April 10th, 2010.
This week’s Wine Word of the Week is sustainable viticulture.
Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
Sustainable viticulture is a form of viticultural practice which aims to avoid any form of environmental degradation while maintaining the economic viability of the vineyard. It is defined by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program at the University of California at Davis as “the principle that we must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.â€
Layman’s terms from Kori:
Sustainable viticulture has the same goals as organic viticulture or biodynamic viticulture with one big difference: It incorporates the “scientific method†into the formula. It utilizes the least amount of intervention possible while managing in a way that sustains the long-term health of the vineyards as well as the economic viability of the operation.
Filed under: Wine Word of the Week
Its nice to hear more people are thinking about the future and considering the implications of what we do
Luso,
Thanks for your kind words. Cheers!
There are so many different rules governing accreditation schemes, not just between countries but within wine regions, that it can be extremely difficult to tell which are genuinely environmentally-friendly, and which are far from it.
Earle Wines,
Excellent point. These terms tend to get tossed around frequently, some genuinely and some not. Hopefully, a standard set of rules will come in time. Cheers!