11/4/08 Environmentally Friendly

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. On today's program we are discussing comments I have received after the series I did on how some members of the wine industry are changing their practices to become more environmentally friendly. I was asked how practices in the wine industry have changed to become more environmentally conscious. So today we will compare the production practices of the past and the present. Early on in the wine industry the environment was not the topic of importance that it is today. As concern for the environment has grown it has changed many of the production practices of the wine industry. For example early on wineries were quite unconcerned and in many cases wasteful of the quantity of water they used during the winemaking process. Today the conscientious and judicious use of and monitoring of water use is a common practice. The same goes with energy consumption. The conventional farming techniques of the past have given way to sustainable and organic farming practices. Paper record keeping has been abandoned for a more efficient and environmentally considerate electronic monitoring of everything from keeping track of where grapes originated to which barrel they ended up in at the winery. Better attention is now paid to the reduction and control of greenhouse gas emissions. And there are numerous examples of winery designs using environmentally friendly architecture and materials. Just like many other industries the wine industry is responding to and incorporating many of the new technologies and discoveries being made to advance our efforts to conserve and preserve our planet. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.