More Medals for Blackwood Valley Wines

• Rosenthal Wines 2008 "The Naomi" wins GOLD at the Winewise Small Vigneron Awards and qualifies for the National Wine Show of Australia.
• Beulah Wines 2009 Viognier wins SILVER at the Cowra Wine Show

Blackwood Valley Wine Region’s Goes Green

Grape and Wine producers in the Blackwood Valley Wine Region are leading the way for the Australian wine industry by demonstrating their environmental responsibility and commitment. 

Producers attended a two-day course in late June to develop an Environmental Management System (EMS) for their property, vineyard or winery, and are now busy with follow up farm visits and beginning to implement their plans.

The workshop and EMS is an initiative of the Blackwood Valley Wine Industry Association. “Being able to demonstrate environmental responsibility and sustainability is becoming more and more important in the wine industry, and this initiative of the BVWIA will enable growers to do just that.” Said BVWIA’s President Craig Nield. “As a wine region, the Blackwood Valley wants to be recognised for environmental excellence on a national scale, and this is just one step towards that goal.”

BestFarms EMS, a not-for-profit project that has been successfully running in the south west for the last five years, was contracted by the BVWIA to run the workshop during which participants completed an environmental review of their business and property, identifying and prioritising issues for actions. They then developed a property action plan to address their top priority issues. Participants worked one-to-one with a trained facilitator throughout the workshop, who will also visit them on-site and provide on-going support to address environmental issues and in identifying funding sources.

“Over 50% of our wine producers are now implementing a BestFarms EMS on their properties and are finding it a great benefit. Not only does this initiative give producers an advantage with regards to marketing their wine or grapes, it also assists them in achieving better environmental management and gaining recognition for their actions.”

For further information on the BestFarms EMS program, please contact the BestFarms Team at the Blackwood Basin Group Office on 9765 1555 or visit the Blackwood Valley Wine Association website at www.blackwoodvalleywine.asn.au for information on the Association and its members.

Site Administrator Hint

To have news items automatically appear on this page, please log into your personalised administration console and click on the 'News' tab at the top.