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Long Island Sustainable Winegrowing Debuts on Earth Day
Just in time for Earth Day, the recently formed not-for-profit organization, Long Island Sustainable Winegrowing, Inc (LISW), formally announced its creation as the first sustainable vineyard certification program in the eastern United States.
LISW provides education and certification for Long Island vineyards in terms of sustainable practices, the first such program in the eastern United States. This initiative places New York City's local wine region at the forefront of eco-friendly farming practices as well as the blending of viticultural science, world-class winemaking, and social responsibility.
Starting this spring, LISW will begin a multi-year certification process for Long Island wineries using international standards of sustainable practices for winegrape production that have been refined for Long Island's unique conditions. The sustainability guidelines include a checklist of recommended and prohibited practices, and verification by independent third-party certifiers. All Long Island vineyard owners have been invited and encouraged to join the organization and take advantage of its forward-looking program.
A core working group on this project has included the founding partners Bedell Cellars, Channing Daughters, Martha Clara Vineyards and Shinn Estate Vineyards working in conjunction with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County. The foundation of the program is the "New York VineBalance Grower Self-Assessment Workbook" which acts as a roadmap for evaluating sustainable viticultural practices. That major project began in 2004, led by the statewide office of Cornell Cooperative Extension with funding from the New York Wine & Grape Foundation and the New York Farm Viability Institute.
This is an important development not only on Long Island but for the rest of New York and the east coast. For years, sustainability--combining economic viability, environmental sensititive, and social responsibility--has been a focus of our colleagues on the west coast. But conditions are very different here in the east, so it has taken more time to adapt the standards to the local industry.
For more information, visit www.liswsustainablewine.org.
Northern Grapes Symposium at Viticulture 2013
Jim Trezise of Penn Yan has been the President of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation since 1985 and President of the International Riesling Foundation since 2011.
