A wine for the planet

Changing climate, changing trends

The science is settled. Global temperature rises, caused by humans, will have severe consequences for our planet, including extreme weather, the mass displacement of people and the extinction of species.

But this isn’t inevitable. To avoid this manmade crisis, we will need governments, businesses and individuals to take action to reduce their carbon footprint. The winemaking industry is no different. We take from the earth and have activities that lead to emissions, so we think that each winemaker should be responsible for reducing their environmental impact and giving back to the earth through more sustainable means of production.

Winemakers that don’t follow us will get left behind as changing consumer habits demand more sustainable wines.

The last decade has seen a steady trend of consumers seeking out wines from smaller, often family-owned estates that strive to preserve their local terroir. Furthermore, how the wine is produced has become essential – customers have increasingly shifted towards wines that are organically produced, and now biodynamic and low-intervention wines are at the peak of demand, with customers paying up to a 40% premium for such wines.

But it will no longer be enough to produce wines that are just organic or biodynamic. As consumers continue to become more ethical with their purchases, winemakers will need to go even further to ensure their wine is produced in as sustainable a way as possible, with every step taken to reduce the negative impact on the planet.

Our approach is currently the exception, but it’s our hope that it will soon become the norm so that the winemaking industry has a positive impact on the environment.

A new approach to winemaking

That's why we've partnered with Contrà Soarda to lead the way in sustainable wine production with the creation of Europe’s first carbon negative wine. The brand-new wine offsets twice the amount of the carbon emissions associated with its production to make it Europe’s first carbon negative wine.

To do this, we carried out a detailed carbon footprint assessment of Contrà Soarda to understand the environmental impact of their entire operations, including the specific emissions associated with the new wine.

Building on Contra Soarda’s long history of green methods of production, and using Carbon Jacked’s expertise, these emissions were reduced as much as possible.

There is a substantial amount of carbon sequestration built into Contra Soarda's land management and operations, removing CO2 from the atmosphere. On top of this, we have invested in fantastic projects that prevent twice the amount of CO2 from entering the atmosphere than those associated with the production of the wine.

We supported these projects by purchasing independently verified carbon credits. The projects combat climate change, support biodiversity and contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The verification process ensure the accuracy and impact of our climate action.

This is part of our sustainable wine series about the process behind Terra, Europe's first Carbon Negative wine, which is now available to buy in the UK here.