Freshcare Ltd together with the Winemakers Federation of Australia (WFA) have developed the Freshcare Environmental Code – Viticulture and associated workbooks, based on the original Freshcare Environmental Code of Practice and resources, to provide wine grape growers with an industry specific environmental program to assist them in gaining certification to a recognised environmental standard. Compliance with the Freshcare Environmental Code of Practice is one of the steps required in the process of gaining EntWine accreditation (see below).
The Freshcare Environmental Code of Practice – Viticulture is a set of elements which outline specific practices that must be implemented and maintained in order to achieve continuous environmental improvements on-farm.
Some of the environmental elements included in the Code are:
- Water, land and soil management
- Chemical usage
- Fertiliser and soil additives
- Biodiversity
- Waste, air and energy management
To ensure a full understanding of the Freshcare Environmental Code of Practice – Viticulture and the individual elements which form the basis of Environmental compliance, all participants are required to complete a Freshcare Environmental – Viticulture training workshop.
For details on Freshcare training providers and upcoming training courses click here.
Freshcare Environmental – Viticulture Certification provides the assurance that wine grape production has been undertaken with care for the environment.
To achieve Freshcare Environmental – Viticulture Certification:
- Take part in a Freshcare Environmental Viticulture Workshop.
- Implement the practices outlined at training and detailed in the Freshcare Environmental Code of Practice – Viticulture and Workbook.
- Maintain records of monitoring and management as required in the Code for verification of implementation on farm.
- Contact a Freshcare approved Certification Body to schedule an audit (prices and availability will vary between Certification Bodies). For details on Freshcare Certification Bodies click here.
Complete the initial audit and resolve any corrective actions raised.
Once you have achieved Certification to the Freshcare Environmental Code of Practice – Viticulture, you will receive a Freshcare Environmental Viticulture Certificate (valid for 3 years from date of audit).
The Freshcare Environmental Code of Practice - Viticulture has been developed for ease of integration with the Freshcare Environmental Code of Practice - Winery, giving producers the option of combined certification audits.
All Freshcare Certification Bodies have auditors who are able to audit across a number of industry standards (not just Freshcare). Therefore you may be able to schedule your Freshcare audit with other industry standards / on farm management programs as required. To organise a combined audit you must advise the Certification Body at the time of booking.
EntWine Australia is a voluntary national environmental assurance scheme available to all Australian wine companies and grape growers.
To qualify for EntWine membership, companies must:
- be certified against a recognised, independently audited environmental certification program such as Freshcare Environmental Viticulture (audited at least every three years),
- report each year against the EntWine Australia Indicators,
- pay an annual EntWine Australia membership fee
EntWine Australia was developed by the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia (WFA) with support from the Federal Government through the Caring For Our Country program. More information about Entwine, including the EntWine Australia Indicators can be found at the Entwine website.
