A toast to sustainable winemaking Yealands estate wins EECA sme business award
Friday 29 May 2009, 12:48PM
By Yealands Estate
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Yealands Estate is celebrating its win at the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Awards, held by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) in Auckland last week.
The Marlborough winery, which opened in August 2008, won the award for Small to Medium Businesses and was commended in the Innovation category.
Owner and founder Peter Yealands is thrilled at the award, which comes just two months after the winery received CaboNZero certification.
“The wine business is hugely energy intensive, but this award goes to show that sustainable wine production is not only possible, it is commercially viable on a large scale.
Our mission is to become New Zealand’s most sustainable winery and this accolade is a great acknowledgement of that” says Peter, a long term advocate of environmental practises.
The award judges acknowledged the wide range of energy efficiency initiatives that were incorporated into the design of Yealands Estate. The judge’s report specifically mentioned the installation of solar panels, insulated tanks and wind-powered electricity generators but other initiatives include harvesting storm water to irrigate the vineyards around the winery and developing more than 20 wetland areas to preserve native species and attract native birds.
In presenting the award, the judges said “The success of the Yealands Estate Winery project to date is an effective demonstration that sustainable production practices and innovation can go hand-in-hand with commercial viability.”
And it’s the commercial viability that comes from being New Zealand’s largest privately owned vineyard that has seen Yealands Estate successfully enter the national and international wine market. Peter Yealands says it’s the ‘green’ philosophy that resonates with consumers both in New Zealand and overseas.
Mike Underhill, EECA chief executive describes the awards as a way to clearly show the value that good energy management can deliver to businesses.
“If every one of New Zealand’s 346,000 businesses took the same approach then we would see massive energy and emission reductions worth billions to our economy.”
The EECA Awards feature New Zealand businesses and individuals who have achieved great things in energy efficiency or renewable energy projects. There are nine category awards and one Supreme Award.
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About Yealands Estate:
Peter Yealands began developing New Zealand’s largest privately-owned vineyard six years ago in the rolling foothills of the Awatere Valley, Marlborough with a 100 per cent commitment to the environment.
His unwavering vision has translated into a winery valued at $45 million alone, featuring advanced green production technology alongside a host of innovative ideas devised by the Yealands team.
Yealands Estate anticipates total energy savings of 949,000kWh in its first year of operation. Put into perspective, this saving represents the total annual energy consumption of more than 118 New Zealand households.
Yealands wines launched to great acclaim in August 2008, and have collected 33 awards in the first year, which goes to show that being green also means making a great drop.