The South Australian Wine Story

Wine is first and foremost a natural product, and South Australian winemakers take great care of their environment. They see themselves as guardians of the ancient soils, fresh air and clean but scarce water resources that underpin their craft. In recent years there has been a move towards establishing formal protocols, developing environmental management systems and setting standards for all the industry to meet, and here again South Australia has been a leader. In 2003 the South Australian Wine Industry Association (SAWIA) consolidated a decade of thinking to create Sustaining Success , a toolkit that set guidelines for wineries and wine regions to follow in establishing best- practice guidelines that would ensure that South Australia was a global leader in wine industry sustainability. The aim was to make change based on knowledge, and the response and the results were impressive. The use of irrigation in South Australian vineyards is now 14% lower than the national average, for example, and our wineries have received significantly more than their share of government funding for clean technology programs. Sustaining Success was the precursor to the development of the Entwine Australia program launched by the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia in 2008 then later transferred to the Adelaide-based Australian Wine Research Institute. Developed in South Australia, Entwine was very much embraced within the state; two-thirds of Entwine members are from South Australia. In addition, individual wine regions have set up complementary local environmental programs, led by McLaren Vale, which is considered an environmental pioneer. Just two years after it launched a comprehensive sustainable winegrowing program, 40% of its vineyard area had signed on. Now Entwine and the McLaren Vale program have come together to create Sustainable Winegrowing Australia , an even more comprehensive initiative launched in mid-2019. Again, significant support came from South Australia, via the State Government and SAWIA. McLaren Vale also has a code of conduct to ensure its vineyards remain free of Phylloxera and, after decades of diligent research, released what it believes is a world first – a detailed map of the region’s diverse geology, which provides a key to the complex, constantly unfolding links between the land and modern wine flavours. In addition, many companies are embracing solar energy, led by Pernod Ricard Winemakers, which in 2018 announced the installation of 2.8MW of solar panels at its Jacob’s Creek winery in the Barossa Valley. One of the largest private solar arrays in South Australia, it can produce enough electricity to power 800 homes. Purity Natural and sustainable wine 08 The South Australian Wine Story Image: Cape Jaffa Wines