Though the initial intention was to address a wastewater odour issue, De Bortoli reviewed the issue of salt and its influence on the irrigation systems in the Riverina. This drove a change to potassium-based chemistry in the winery resulting in utilisation of wastewater for crop farming, with De Bortoli Wines becoming one of the first Australian winery to not only resolve the wastewater odour issue but use that same water for farming.

While potassium chemistry is now the standard in many wineries, De Bortoli Wines is one of the earliest to use its wastewater to grow crops. Given the extended and record breaking drought experienced in Australia, managing our precious water resources is a continued focus.

In 2008, De Bortoli Wines started a recycling program across the business, which involved a full audit of waste within the winery. Ways of sorting waste into recyclable and non recyclable were introduced and partnerships formed with recycling facilities to reuse sorted waste. 

Employees at De Bortoli are also encouraged to bring their recycling to work to create an amount that is sufficient for supply to recycling companies. The result has been an 80% drop in waste to landfill from approximately 150 tonnes in 2005 to less than 30 tonnes per annum in 2019.

In addition, a change of thinking, attitude and focus has been identified in contractors’ behaviour around recycling. Contractors have presented options for sustainable and environmental solutions to recover packaging previously disposed of to landfill. An example is the recent installation of the air conditioning system in the cask wine line, where all packaging was recycled through De Bortoli’s waste management system.

Started in 2011, the De Bortoli Method is a circular approach to sustainability as it takes a waste product and recycles it for reuse.

The De Bortoli Method aims to significantly reuse the chemicals used to clean winery tanks and machinery, while improving wastewater and soil quality at De Bortoli’s wastewater farm. It uses a form of electrolysis to recover potassium from spent winery wash-water to produce a potassium hydroxide (KOH) cleaning solution. As a result in 2016, De Bortoli wines was recognised by the Department of Environment and Heritage as a Platinum project holder, being the first company to be recognised for this achievement.

Ongoing research is underway to produce a commercial unit for De Bortoli Wines. The ultimate goal for De Bortoli Wines is to be a ‘Zero Waste Winery’, which the business has been working towards over the past 15 years, through wise water management, energy efficiency and improved waste management.

De Bortoli’s achievements in Sustainability include gaining a $5 million grant in 2012 to fund the installation of an energy efficient production system including renewable energy production. As a result, De Bortoli Wines became the first Australian winery to install a large-scale solar energy system. 

In addition, the installation of natural gas air conditioning with heat recovery in 2018 was and is still one of the few installations of its kind in Australia. 

A review of available air conditioning systems to fit out a new building resulted in purchase and installation of a heat exchange water air conditioner. This cools the air without a rise in humidity which is an issue with normal water systems. The result is effectively cooling a building using significantly less energy than a refrigerated system.

In 2013, the installation of a 230kw solar system and 200kW solar thermal plant at De Bortoli Wines in Bilbul, which at the time was the largest solar panel energy saving initiative for an Australian winery. 

This resulted in an annual production of 320,000 kW hours of renewable energy, which is equivalent to the energy usage of 40 households.

This with other initiatives resulted in an annual decrease of 1.6 million kW hours, the equivalent of 300 households usage. In addition, a solar hot water system for warming bottles was developed which allowed De Bortoli to package sparkling wine in a single operation. Prior to this, labelling sparkling wine was an operation that was carried out one to two weeks after bottling.

De Bortoli Wines is currently the second winery in Australia embracing new technology using electrodialysis for tartrate stabilisation to reduce refrigeration requirements and potentially reduce energy usage. 

Wine is currently held in refrigeration at sub zero degrees for several weeks to stabilise the wine, with electrodialysis being introduced to complete this task at room temperature and in a matter of hours.

As a result, the energy usage is potentially up to 90% less with electrodialysis compared to traditional cold stability.

Biological farming practices have been increasing in our vineyards at De Bortoli Wines to grow the best grapes efficiently, safely and sustainably. Biological Farming uses natural living systems to provide nutrients to the vines and improve our soils.

We ask ourselves lots of questions as we consider the ecosystems where wild vines would grow naturally.

• Where does the perfect berry like to grow?
• What are our farms natural ecosystems, and what state is it in now?
• How can we best reconcile the differences between the natural system and our agriculture system to allow each vine to best express its wine characteristics, as if it was living as a wild vine?

The ultimate aim of biological farming is to create healthy vines which are easier to manage and have less pests and diseases.

Composting is the cornerstone for biological farming.

Every year at our Yarra Valley Estate, we make approximately 2000 tonnes of compost which comprises approximately 80% Grape Marc (skins, seeds, stalks) mixed with green waste, hay and woodchips. We form windrows which are regularly turned as the heat builds up within. By the end of the process, we are left with wonderfully friable rich compost which we spread throughout the vineyard to improve the soil structure and reduce the water requirements by as much as 50%. The cycle continues.

Waste and Recycling Management meetings are held bi-monthly and attended by representatives from all departments and management at De Bortoli Wines. 

As a result of staff feedback on solutions for reducing waste to landfill, recycle bins and non-recycled waste bins have replaced waste paper bins in office areas.

*Please note photos were taken before the pandemic

With a vision for a future where great wine and a healthy environment can be enjoyed by everyone, De Bortoli Wines is in the early process of converting some vineyards to organic. As at 2020, 6.2% of our Riverina vineyards are organic.

In accordance with the Australian Certified Organic Standard, producers of organic wine do not apply any synthetic chemicals to the soil, vines, or wine. Environmental sustainability is an important requirement of organic winemaking.

In 2000, De Bortoli Wines became a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant (APC), developing a number of five-year plans to reduce the impact of packaging on the environment, including lighter weight bottles, the elimination of cardboard dividers and recycling of packaging materials. 

Embracing packaging covenant ideals resulted in the redesign of packaging to produce less waste and improve recyclability, with the aim to reduce the quantity of packaging materials by 5% per litre of wine produced by 2027 compared to 2017. 

17 Trees wines are Sustainably Produced and Vegan Friendly.

FAQs

What makes 17 Trees wines vegan friendly?
No animal products were used when making the wine.

What’s the difference between vegan friendly and vegan certified?
Vegan Certified is defined as: no animal or animal by-products to include flesh, bones, dairy, eggs, honey, fur, leather, wool, down feathers and cosmetics or chemical products tested on animals.
Vegan friendly still adopts the above however is not registered by the vegan trademark.

One of De Bortoli’s first sustainability projects in 2008 was to plant 17 trees for every vehicle the business used, to offset the carbon emissions of the De Bortoli’s fleet. In addition, the growing of trees provide biodiversity, soil enrichment, protect crops from the wind and manage ground water without the use of power.

Now in 2020, 17 Trees is a brand with a purpose. Sustainability is a journey that is everybody’s responsibility. Hence 17 Trees is a solid collaboration with our suppliers, distributors, customers and consumers to plant trees to rebuild the Australian forest.

De Bortoli has partnered with non-for-profit organisation Trillion Trees to plant native trees for a sustainable future. Trillion Trees has been planting trees since 1979, with the vision to plant 1 trillion trees.