By Celsias Team
Posted on Jan. 11, 2011. Listed in:
Stronger brand positioning in the global market place is being touted as one of the benefits behind a renewed target by organic wine producers in New Zealand to make 20 percent of the country’s vineyards organic by 2020.
“Organic winegrowing encompasses the goals of social, environmental and financial sustainability for our nation,” says James Millton, chairman of Organic Winegrowers New Zealand (OWNZ).
“By 2020, even if we only achieve 20 percent of the vinelands in our country as being certified organic and biodynamic, it will be a giant step towards enforcing our very precious environmental image to wine connoisseurs all over the world.”
The move has the backing of Enzed’s national organisation for New Zealand's grapegrowers and winemakers, New Zealand Winegrowers. Chief executive Philip Cregan describes the growth of organics as an “...important component of the industry's commitment to sustainability and are confident it will strongly support our brand positioning in global markets”.
New Zealand Winegrowers says 4.5 percent—or1500 hectares if vines on 115 vineyards—are currently managed organically.
As well as organics, the wine industry is also making big strides in the sustainability domain, as evidenced in last years Air New Zealand Wine Awards. Following the announcement of a new criteria for the awards—stipulating that wines grown and entered from the 2010 vintage onwards must be recognised as being 100 percent sustainably produce—there was a near 140 percent increase in sustainable entries from the previous year—up from 261 in 2009 to 621 in 2010.
Image: FLickr - andi.vs.zf
