Where Australia's oldest wine country meets the leaders of innovation and sustainability.
Making Changes
In the Hunter Valley wine producers are constantly assessing their practices and making changes to become more sustainable. Hear from Jerome Scarborough and Liz Riley from Scarborough Wines Co about the important projects and processes they have been trialing to build a more sustainable future.
Sustainable Winegrowing Australia
The Hunter Valley Wine Industry is proud of creating steps forward to a more sustainable future. Sustainable Winegrowing Australia (SWA) is a national program administered by Australia's peak research body The Australian Wine Research Institute in collaboration with Wine Australia. Scarborough Wines and Tyrells Wines have recently joined 12 other Hunter Valley certified SWA members who's sustainable philosophies an environmental management practices are now nationally recognised by the program.
List of Hunter Valley SWA Certified Members
Audrey Wilkinson Vineyard
Brokenwood Vineyard, Brokenwood Wines
Margan Family Winegrowers Winery and Vineyard
Marsh Vineyard and Soldiers Settler Vineyard of Agnew Wines
Pooles Rock Winery and Vineyard
Scarborough Wine Co Vineyard and Scarborough on Hermitage Winery
Tyrrells Ashmans Winery and Tyrrells Hunter Valley.
List of Hunter Valley SWA Members
Drury Lane Estate
Glenesk Vineyard
Mercer Wines
Mount Pleasant Estate Winery and Mount Pleasant Wines Vineyard
The Little Wine Company
Tamburlaine Hunter Valley Winery
Thomas Wines Winery
Tinklers Wines
Going Beyond
Sustainability is a journey with continuous improvement at its heart. It’s a commitment to improving the environmental, social and economic aspects of a business and its impacts on the community around it – Sustainable Winegrowing Australia (2021 Impact Report)
As Sustainable Winegrowing Australia says it's not just about achieving what today's standard are, it is about constantly growing. Winemakers in the Hunter Valley are constantly looking to evolve and improve, just as we have done for almost 200 years.
"With cleaner and greener messaging, supported by an ethic of continuous improvement, wine businesses that adopt a culture of sustainability stand to benefit the most. The SWA program sets the foundations on which we can build Sustainability, or more aptly a pivot on which we can improve on our Sustainable outcomes as a wine business."
-Aaron Mercer, Mercer Wines
Read Aaron's article published by Wine Australia as part of the Future Leaders program