Making our Business more Sustainable

The future matters for Scarborough Wine Co and we are constantly looking at other sustainability initiatives across the business to improve how we’re using many inputs, including water, energy and waste. Take a moment as Jerome Scarborough and Liz Riley explain some of the important projects we have been trialling. 

• Water

Water is either in over- or under-supply in the vineyard and we use real-time soil moisture monitoring equipment to help us decide when strategic water inputs are needed or can be deferred. This helps us to only apply water and use energy when needed, protecting this vital resource and reducing our energy and emissions profile. It’s about saving water resources for when they are most needed, as well as about managing energy.

• Energy

In 2019, we installed a solar farm of 200kw on our Hermitage Road property that has seen our energy usage drop by 40% in high-use times, such as vintage. Thanks to this installation, we often hit a net-zero usage, with this power supply being greater than our outputs at various times of the year.  This has had a dramatic effect on our energy use and ensures we are lowering our greenhouse gas emissions.

All of our irrigation pumps have variable speed drives that make them more energy efficient so they only draw the power they need. There are no solar battery arrays at the moment, but this is a space we’re watching closely for the future.

• Waste

We use commercially available compost and supplement this with our own that we’ve been working on for several years. We make our compost using grape skins from the winery mixed with surplus cardboard from the cellar door and locally sourced organic waste. This works to build greater resilience in our soils by helping it to retain moisture.

• Sustainable Winegrowing Australia

We will continue to build sustainability and resilience into all aspects of our business. Both our vineyards and winery are now certified members of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia. If you want to learn more about SWA check out this blog.

Click here to read more about some of the practices we have adopted in the vineyards including some of the biodiversity plots that we've been planting.