Last week, Hill-Smith Family Estates, owners of Yalumba Wines, announced they had achieved silver membership with the International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA). 

 

Sustainability has always been at the heart of the Hill-Smith Family Estates operations and their wines, but the IWCA has helped them build on their efforts and set new ambitions to rigorously measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainability Committee Leader and Head of Winemaking Louisa Rose states “Partnering with like-minded individuals is a great motivation. We are not going to solve the issues of climate change on our own, and joining with companies who are driving and affecting real change such as IWCA brings us hope that if we all do our bit, we can make a difference.”

 

Created in 2019, IWCA is a membership-driven working group, open to any winery that views climate change as a serious threat and is committed to reducing its own emissions. Membership is multi-tiered and rigorously vetted to ensure that all members are accountable for their commitments and demonstrate tangible progress with constant reductions to meet intermediate targets by 2030, with a view to becoming Net Zero by 2050.

 

Yalumba also became officially certified by the Sustainable Winegrowing Australia this year. This national program is aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and focuses on the key areas of land and soil, water, people and business, biodiversity, energy and waste. 

 

Hill-Smith Family Estates incorporates Samuel Smith & Son, Negociants Australia, Negociants New Zealand, Negociants International, Free Run Juice, Yalumba Nursery, and wine brands and vineyard estates including Yalumba, Jansz Tasmania, Dalrymple Vineyards, Pewsey Vale Vineyard, Heggies Vineyard, Nautilus Estate of Marlborough, Oxford Landing, Running with Bulls, Winesmiths, Opawa, Smith & Hooper, Ringbolt, mesh, La Maschera, Rogers & Rufus, earthworks, Twin Islands, Hill-Smith Estate and Parish Vineyard.