Sustainable, Biodynamic & Organic Wine
Philosophy
We operate under the triple bottom line sustainability philosophy. Environmental, social, financial sustainability.
Certification
Many of our vineyards are certified organic or biodynamic, or are following these practices.
Renewable Energy
All our winemakers are powered by renewable energy sources.
Vegan Friendly
All wines are made vegan friendly, meaning there are no animal byproducts used in the production, such as fining agents (used to make the wine bright and clear)
Packaging Materials
Our labels are made from sugar cane pulp.
CO2 Emissions
90% of the global wine industry's CO2 emissions are generated by the glass bottle. It's use of resources in production and recycling are enormous. The weight of glass in international logistics is incredibly inefficient. Epic Negociants is trialling many alternative packaging forms to reduce CO2 emissions.
Alternative Packaging
Epic Negociants is leading the way in alternative packaging solutions for wine. In the Oceania markets we are leading the push for wine in Tetra Pak, which has been a successful packing format for wine for decades in Europe. If the wine industry adopted more sustainable packaging options we could reduce our CO2 footprint by up to 90%.
Biodynamics
Biodynamics is like supercharged organic farming. Established by Rudolf Steiner in 1924 it has become the agricutural practice of the world's top wine producing Chateaux, Domaines and Estates. Read more about biodynamics here. http://www.demeter.org.au/
Organics
Organics and vegan friendly wines limit environmental pollution. Our organic wine comes from organically managed and certified vineyards, that don’t use synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides.
Sulphur Dioxide
Sulphur has natural antioxidant and antimicrobial properties making it an ideal preservative for wine. It binds with oxygen to prevent contact with the wine, as such when consumed it binds with the oxygen in the bloodstream and is the cause of headaches. Sulphur is added during the early stages of winemaking and during bottling. Often a high quality wine is bottled with extra sulphur as the wine is made for ageing and won't be opened for some time, the reality is many of those bottles are consumed before the intended date and therefore have high levels of sulphur. Low quality wines are also often bottled (casked) with additional sulphur to protect their fragile aromatics and flavours so the wine doesn't 'fall apart'.
