Sustainability

Coming from our base in McLaren Vale – arguably Australia’s most sustainable wine region – it stands to reason that we would take our environmental responsibilities seriously. But it goes further than that. Greg Trott was outspoken on the issues of water management, land conservation and chemical use back in the days when the term “environmental” was associated with tree hugging and tie-dye. Since 2005 we have had a dedicated Environmental Coordinator onsite, managing the challenges of numerous projects geared to make us a cleaner and more environmentally efficient winery.

Image courtesy of Wine Australia

Some of our achievements include:

• The restoration of the winery creek line, which started in early 2000, and has been continuous ever since.
• Creation, implementation and review of a Land Management and Biodiversity Program for our McLaren Vale property since 2010 in partnership with the Natural Resources and Management (NRM) Board. Since then revegetation has been continuous, with about 5200 natives planted so far. These have been supplied by either the NRM Board or Trees For Life. Wirra Wirra has been a member of the latter since 2012.
• NASAA biodynamic certification of the vineyards surrounding the winery since February 2014. The Sustainable Australia Winegrowing (or SAW) programme has also been implemented on these vineyards since the programme’s inception in 2010.
• Creation of a composting area amongst our vineyards, allowing us to compost our marc and stalks (vintage waste) and occasionally our treated wastewater sludge.
• Continuous review and reduction of the amount of packaging entering the waste stream since our involvement with the Australian Packaging Covenant in 2006. View our 2018 Annual Report & Action Plan
• Reduction of the solids amount entering our wastewater stream by 70%.
• Treatment of all our our liquid wastes (wastewater and septic) and reuse on natives planting.
• 50% reduction of our electricity consumption (from the grid) and 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions between 2013 and 2014.
• Entwine certification of our winery since December 2017, in compliance with the Freshcare Environmental Winery code of practice.
• Inclusion in the McLaren Vale Cellar Door Tree Trail since its inception  

If you have any questions regarding our Environment Management, please feel free to contact Emmanuelle Walton, our Environmental Coordinator, by phone: (08) 8323 8414 or via email: EWalton@wirra.com.au