Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/62409
GRAPE GRO WING in having a meaningful discussion about the level of sustainability of vineyards is the lack of consensus about what consti- tutes sustainable winegrape growing. For example, I recently read one of the numer- ous wine blogs where the blogger argued that any vineyard in which RoundUp is used couldn't be considered sustainable. Using only one practice as the make-or- break factor for determining if a vineyard is sustainable is not very helpful in my opinion. For example, I could make the case that if a vineyard does not provide health insurance for its employees then it is not sustainable. Big farmers are responsible for three-quarters of the vineyard acres. So if big means unsustainable, we have a problem. Despite the lack of hard data, I think there are sustainable practices that large growers can do better than small ones, and vice versa. Often the reason this is the case comes down to time and money. A small grower can spend more person- al time in their vineyard and therefore really keep track of what is happening with every vine and every square foot of vineyard because they are dealing with a small space. Due to the large number of acres a large grower manages, it is impossible for them to personally track what is happening in their vineyards in the same way. On the other hand, large growers have more capital to invest in solar installations, Biodiesel production, health insurance for employees, riparian restoration and tools such as farm data management software that allow them to capture data and use it to make better farming decisions. One way to have an intelligent debate about whether small is more sustainable than big is to use measures that apply to both situations. Performance metrics are one set of measures. For example, it is possible for any vineyard operation to calculate how much energy is expended and greenhouse gases are emitted to pro- duce a ton of grapes. Another is measur- ing how many pounds of a nutrient, such as nitrogen, are added (either in compost or synthetic fertilizer) to produce a ton of grapes. If a vineyard is irrigated, a third measurement would be how much water is applied to produce a ton of grapes. There are many human resource measures such as providing paid vacation and sick time for employees, health insurance, employee handbooks and so forth. Unfortunately, I know of no studies that have been done on these metrics in relation to the size of a winegrape growing operation, so our con- versation can only be based on anecdotal information. I will leave that for readers to pursue. One overriding metric for assessing sustainability is the vineyard's profitabil- ity and its ability to support the company/ family farm. This information is hard to come by. Wines & Vines recently carried out for me a brief survey of the winegrape growers in their communications data- base, asking them what portion of their income is derived from their vineyard operations. Of the 201 respondents, 75% derive less than half their income from their vineyards, and only 8% derive 75%- 100%. Unfortunately, I neglected to in- sert into the survey a question asking how QSEE US AT UNIFIED, BOOTH #1041 Wines & Vines JAnUARY 2012 147