Wine Sustainability: Trade-off, Trilemma or Synergy? It’s Complicated!

Sue and I are in Milan this week at the International Congress on Sustainability during the 26th edition of SIMEI – International Enological and Bottling Equipment Exhibition.  This event is sponsored by the Unione Italiana Vini, an association of Italian wine producers whose 500 members account for 70% of the nation’s wine.

I will be leading a discussion of the economic elements of sustainability in wine on Tuesday and then taking part in a panel that looks at the role of sensory analysis in sustainability on Wednesday.

One of the themes of the conference is that sustainability is not simply an ethical matter but also a key to wine quality and wine market success. I am looking forward to meeting the international group of speakers and participants.

I was asked to prepare a quick “ice breaker” presentation to jump-start the discussion of the economic aspects of sustainability in wine and I thought I would share its outline with you here. I begin with the conventional wisdom of the “triple bottom line” analysis: sustainability must take into account the natural, social and business environments. The question is how are these three related. The answer is “it’s complicated.”

Some people see these simply as discrete goals and focus on trade-offs. Others see sustainability as a trilemma — pick two and the third is eliminated. I can understand this logic, but I think it is possible to design for sustainability and I will try to direct the discussion towards strategies for synergy and success.

I plan to get the ball rolling by talking about the case of Durbanville Hills winery in South Africa, a success story in terms of both wine quality and sustainability. Durbanville Hills isn’t sustainable by accident but rather results from the combination of effective leadership, a progressive organizational design and strong institutional commitment by all stakeholders. Inspiring! I hope the participants will contribute other success stories that will collectively point the way forward.

The key, of course, is to bridge the gap between theory and practice. and to identify the key pressure points. Sustainability is important in wine both for the success of the industry and as a beacon to other sectors. Wine, with its strong social and cultural connections and its deep agricultural roots, presents a clear example of how complex thinking about sustainability pays off.

Ciao a tutti — hope to see you in Milan!