United States: California’s $46 billion wine sector prepares to weather climate change

California’s wine sector has been preparing for threats posed by climate change via their cutting-edge focus on sustainability.

In 2003, the California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) and the Wine Institute launched the non-profit California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance and began offering third party certification in 2010, measuring water and nitrogen use in vineyards, as well as energy and water use and greenhouse gas emissions from wineries.

Altogether, 71 specific practices are considered, thirty of which are climate “hot spots.”