Ahead of World Environment Day, we look at how viticulturists in the country have been adopting measures to ensure a sustainable wine production. By Chahak Mittal

Across  the sweeping horizon all over the undulating hills and slanting valleys one can see straight rows of leafy grape vines stretching far into the distance. The sight of the vineyards is as stunning as their final produce, maybe more. Well, vineries account for only a small percentage of the agriculture industry in India as grape-growing accounts for around 4.9 per cent of arable and permanent croplands.

While there have been developments and advancements around application technology, crop protection techniques and many other agricultural practices, the question remains how much of it is environment-friendly? Organic, biodynamic and sustainably-produced vines and practices have been a rising trend in various international vineyards, but what about the same in the Indian viticulture?

Inesh Singh, CSO (chief sustainability officer), Sula Vineyards lists some ways in which a more sustainable approach could be adopted towards viticulture and vine producing practices in India.

Solar makes sense

It  is an abundant resource which can be harnessed relatively easily. Vineries can leverage this resource, which in turn will allow them to massively reduce their carbon footprint as well as electricity expenses. Now running for more than 10 years, the 196-kilowatt (kW) SunPower solar PV energy system installed at Napa Valley’s Domaine Carneros is built into its roof over a waterproof membrane, saving the winery money and reducing its water and energy consumption. At maximum capacity, the panels produce emission-free electricity to power more than 190 average homes and reduce CO2 emissions by 2,400 tonnes over 30 years, which is, as per a study, the equivalent of planting trees across nearly 700 acres.

At Sula, Singh explains, their current solar panel setup allows them to generate almost 50 per cent of their electricity needs, which they are currently aiming to increasing to 75 per cent.  The energy generated by solar panels constitutes 49 per cent of what they use at sites and they have plans to reach 75 per cent in the next 12 to 18 months.

Reusability of water

Wine-making requires water beyond what it takes to grow grapes. From bottles to wash, barrels to scrub, and floors to clean, there are multiple processes associated with water. But what if winemakers treated the water left over from all that cleaning and reused it to irrigate vineyards? Even though researchers wondered if the wastewater might be harmful to the vines, the soil, or even the wine, the myth has been busted. As per a two-year-long research carried out in Napa and Lodi in California, winery wastewater is indeed a viable source to irrigate vineyards.

At vineyards, normal water consumption also results in significant sewage generation. Typically, this sewage is sent to the municipality for disposal. This makes it imperative to setup water treatment plants which allow vineries to recycle and reuse the water. At Sula, the re-usage allows them to cut down on their freshwater consumption in water-starved areas, resulting in a win-win situation for them and the surrounding areas. They reuse 100 per cent of the waste water generated by their sites which totals to almost 40 million litres.

Bottle or box?

In a world replete with plastic waste, glass would seem to be a sustainable packaging choice for anything. Glass wine bottles have been around for centuries and glass is easily recycled. However, as per recent data, it is only about a third of wine bottles which actually get recycled — the rest end up in the landfills. Only some wine makers are using recycled glass in their bottles.

However, research has shown that boxing wine is not only cost-effective but more eco-friendly than bottling it. Shipping a three-litre box of wine generates about half the emissions per 750 millilitres. Cardboard is no less recyclable than glass and, in fact, is recycled about twice as often. One downside to cardboard wine boxes is the plastic liner and spigot. Most analyses ignore the bag in the box and look only at the outer cardboard container. One life cycle analysis found that even with the sustainability impacts of non-recyclable packaging components, bag-in-a-box wines were more sustainable than glass bottles.

Sanket Gawand, winemaker at Vallonne Vineyards, tells us that every bottle at their vineyards, which is consumed at the restaurant, is reused. “We cannot do much about the bottles that go to the retail shops as it becomes difficult to track the bottle and get to the winery. And some of our wines have potential to age further so a lot of our consumer tends to age it further. A lot of our regular guests also return used bottles of wine,” she says.

Water ATMs

Another way that Sula is trying to give back to local communities is by providing water solutions. Impetus is given to not only the operations at the vineyards but largely the communities they operate in as well. They have installed water ATMs in nearby communities which provide water security and safe drinking water to approximately 600 families near their plant. The numbers are expected to only increase with time.

“We have a responsibility towards the local communities in the areas where we operate. We want to ensure that we are able to increase their standard of living as we continue to grow as a business,” says Singh.