November 11th – When International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA) was founded by Familia Torres of Spain and Jackson Family Wines of California in 2019, 10 wineries were involved in our budding movement, including our two co-founding Gold-level wineries and eight Silver-level wineries.
Since then, we have been proud to welcome dozens more of the world’s most innovative, sustainable wineries into our organization: today, IWCA is 37 wineries strong across nine countries. A number of these wineries recently reached significant milestones in their mission to reach Net Zero:
Alma Carraovejas Achieves IWCA Gold Membership
We are thrilled to announce that Alma Carraovejas has achieved IWCA Gold Membership. This accomplishment reflects the Spanish winery’s determined climate action within all parts of its business—action that has resulted in tangible, consistent emissions reductions over the past three years.
Since the winery’s first comprehensive, audited GHG emissions inventory in 2019, Alma Carraovejas has achieved a 10% reduction in emissions per liter of wine. 24% of the winery’s energy now comes from renewable energy sources. Says Pedro Ruiz Aragoneses, CEO of Alma Carraovejas, “Sustainability is one of the guiding principles of our activity and our decision-making. For us, concern for the environment and climate change is our way of taking care of the heritage received and improving it for those who come after.”
“Sustainability is one of the guiding principles of our activity and our decision-making. For us, concern for the environment and climate change is our way of taking care of the heritage received and improving it for those who come after.” – Pedro Ruiz Aragoneses, CEO of Alma Carraovejas
Nine Applicant Wineries Reach Silver Membership
Our movement to decarbonize the wine industry is powered by innovative, forward-looking wineries across the globe. This month, we celebrate nine of these wineries for becoming IWCA Silver Members and leading the charge for climate action within their own businesses and across the industry.
These nine wineries joined IWCA as Applicant members in the last year and reached Silver membership this November: A to Z Wineworks (Oregon, USA), Cakebread Cellars (California, USA), Constellation Brands Fine Wines (USA), Crimson Wine Group (California, USA), Felton Road (New Zealand), Gloria Ferrer (California, USA), Ridge Vineyards (California, USA), Sula Vineyards (India), and Viña Undurraga (Chile).
They have achieved this milestone after completing a comprehensive baseline, third-party audited GHG emissions inventory across Scopes 1-3. As part of their membership in IWCA, they commit to reducing their emissions to reach Net Zero by 2050 and achieving intermediate reductions in the next decade. As IWCA Silver Members, they also join the global UN Race to Zero Campaign, a global campaign to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions, investors for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon future.
Since joining IWCA as Applicant members, these wineries have undergone months of data collection and verification. They have implemented strategies to change their vineyard and business practices to mainstream sustainability in their wineries. With a deeper understanding of their carbon footprint, they are charting additional measures to tackle their emissions “hotspots.”
A crisis as urgent and devastating as climate change cannot be met alone. We applaud these wineries’ commitment—and, most importantly, tangible actions—to drive change within their businesses and across the wine industry. We call upon every winery to join them to safeguard the future of our industry and our younger generations.
