“Sustainability is the process of improvement.
It is a continuum, it never ends,”
— Bill Cooper, Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards, Saratoga
You’ll find many vineyard and winery certifications, from “organic” to “sustainable,” but these don’t tell the whole story. While many Santa Clara Valley and Santa Cruz Mtn wineries proudly display their sustainability credentials, other local vintners follow the same farming, winemaking and business practices, sans certifications.
What sustainability and organic certifications and “green” labels do tell wine consumers is that the winery and the vintner have made a commitment. And that commitment matters, to their business and to their wines. The process for many of these certifications requires extensive effort and investment, with a long-term view of creating a healthy and sustainable wine-making business—and ultimately results in better wines and wine buyers who value their efforts.
So read the labels. Look for the commitment by the vintner and winery. Taste the difference.
Below is a California wine lovers’ guide to the sustainable and green wine certifications you’ll come across, plus some tips to shop smart wine here!
CCOF – Certified California Organic Farmers
CCOF is an organic agriculture advocacy organization that certifies vineyards and wineries separately. Both may be certified, but a winery’s vineyard and not the winery may be certified or vice versa.
This is the first American sustainable winegrowing initiative with more than 120 standard farming practices.
CSWA – California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance
Wineries commit to any of more than 200 farming and operation processes, choosing what is realistic to achieve, and set goals to work towards. Certification is not required to follow and implement CSWA’s code of sustainability.
SIP Certified – Sustainability in Practice
Launched on California’s Central Coast, the SIP Certified program is based on people, planet and prosperity, with certification achieved by following a holistic set of standards.
A local organization that promotes and certifies sustainable vineyards and wineries.
Sonoma County Sustainable Winegrowing
As a result of a countywide effort initiated by the Sonoma County Winegrowers in 2014, 99% of Sonoma’s vineyard acreage is certified sustainable by third-party programs such as CSWA, SIP Certified and Lodi Rules.
