SUSTAINABILITY

As one of the world’s largest wine companies, we’re determined to maximise the benefits we deliver for our people and communities, while treading as softly as possible on the planet.

So that means quality jobs and broader economic benefits in communities large and small, ethical sourcing, encouraging moderation, and efforts to drive-down carbon emissions, water intensity and waste.

Across our global Vinarchy business, we are targeting the following areas where we believe we can make real difference:

Re-setting Our Baseline Emission Reduction Targets

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a corporate climate action organisation that develops standards, tools and guidance to help companies set greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets in line with what is needed to reach net-zero by 2050.

The merger between Accolade Wines and Pernod Ricard Winemakers to create Vinarchy will require us to re-collect and re-audit our Scope 1, 2 & 3 data to reflect the new business. We are committed to working through this process over the next 18 months to create new targets in line with our revised baseline emissions and submit our data and targets to SBTi for validation.

This will allow us to build upon our current emissions reduction programmes and form a robust strategy to guide our future efforts.

Reducing Carbon Emissions

While we work through this process, we remain committed to reducing our carbon emissions and are continuing a range of initiatives across our business. Across our portfolio, we have sought to light weight our glass bottles to reduce CO2 emissions and have successfully introduced light weighted bottles across some of our most popular ranges of the Jacob’s Creek, Hardys and Campo Viejo brands.

In the UK and Europe, we are also increasing our efforts to educate consumers on the advantages of choosing alternative formats such as boxed wine and aluminium cans. Our innovation strategies are heavily focused on incorporating these alternative formats and refining their design, all while continuing to push the environmental benefits of these different formats.

As part of our innovation strategy, we are exploring further redesigns and improvements of our boxed wines and are continuing our focus on educating consumers on different format options. 

Use of 100% Renewable Energy at Campo Viejo Winery

Bodegas Campo Viejo was designed to operate in complete harmony with its surroundings. Built on a plateau at an altitude of 495m and semi-buried, it is designed to reduce electricity demand by:

Maximising natural temperature controls and ventilation through a semi-buried, north-south orientated structure, eliminating refrigeration needs.

Using geothermal energy to provide natural heating and cooling to the visitor centre.

Leveraging gravity when moving grapes to tanks, eliminating the need for additional electrical pumping.

Generating approximately 20% of the winery's electricity using 1,000+ solar panels

Read more about our commitments in our Global Environmental Policy .

Environmental Stewardship

Across our wineries and operational sites, we’re taking an active role in addressing climate risk and opportunity, optimising operational waste, and conserving water systems.

Read more about some of our winery projects below. 

Jacob’s Creek and Native Wind Break Corridors

The 20-year Jacob’s Creek Rejuvenation Project has seen remarkable improvement in the nature around the creek, having reversed erosion of the creek banks, and removed weeds and invasive tree species including Ash, Bamboo and Olive.

Rejuvenation has been focused on approximately 35 ha, with more than 4,000+ seedlings sown by our teams since 2010. Beyond the 20-year restoration, our native plantings extend to make up a biodiversity corridor on our Barossa Valley vineyards. The corridor provides a wind break to protect the vines, a refuge for wildlife and supports soil structure to enable it to hold more water. Native plantings are also resilient to disease, drought and pests.

In June 2022, our teams in the Barossa stepped away from work and into our vineyards for the day, enhancing our biodiversity corridor to extend to 60 ha, planting native shrubs and vegetation.

Banrock Station: A Legacy of Conservation and Biodiversity

For over 30 years, Banrock Station has been working to enhance biodiversity and conserve native flora and fauna across its 1,700-hectare landscape. Thanks to the ongoing efforts of ecology and conservation land management staff, Banrock’s environmental significance was globally recognised in 2002 when it was granted Ramsar status, acknowledging its importance as a wetland of international significance.

Kaituna Wetlands and native Dabchicks

Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world. Since 2006, our team in New Zealand has been dedicated to restoring the Kaituna Wetlands on the North Island, an effort that spans 9 hectares.

Part of the restoration has removed invasive grey willow and a climbing clematis, which chokes the local ecosystem. Wetlands play a crucial role in supporting biodiversity, providing habitats for unique species like the Weweia - New Zealand's native Dabchick. A loss of wetland habitats is one reason these beautiful black silky-feathered duck-like birds are now a threatened species.

We have launched four floating water rafts on three of our vineyard dams and ponds, providing breeding habitats to encourage Dabchicks. Our efforts have paid off at our Matapiro Vineyard in Hawke’s Bay, where the Dabchicks have successfully bred and raised chicks on the rafts.

Water-saving tech in New Zealand and Spanish vineyards

Did you know over 70% of freshwater is used by the agriculture industry globally?

We were part of the first winegrower group to trial a new water-saving technology in New Zealand in 2021. Croptide vine sensors are like a ‘vine smartwatch’, attaching to the vine to monitor sap flow and provide real-time data on vine health and water needs. By 2022, over 100 sensors were installed across three trial blocks in New Zealand.

In Spain, careful water usage is facilitated by a network of weather stations installed in both our own vineyards and those of our growers. The stations provide us with up-to-date data on the weather situation and forecast, as well as soil and air humidity, which allows us to make appropriate decisions about water use. It also helps reduce the use of pesticides, by monitoring pests and diseases using modelling.

Social Responsibility

In addition to the responsible marketing of our products, we partner with DrinkWise in Australia, Drinkaware in the UK, Cheers! in New Zealand, and Wine in Moderation in Spain to help shape a safer and more sociable drinking culture.