Sustainability
Saint Clair Family Estate is committed to developing and continually improving sustainable practices,
above and beyond Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand regulations.
Production
SWNZ Accreditation
SWNZ Accreditation
Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) is an industry-wide certification programme led by New Zealand Winegrowers.
Sustainable Bottles
Saint Clair supports local industries as much as possible and uses glass bottles manufactured by Chandler Glass and Packaging. Chandler is an Auckland producer of lightweight glass bottles designed to help reduce the environmental impact of wine packaging.
Saint Clair wines are bottled at Wineworks, a Toitū carbon zero business that measures and reduces greenhouse gas
emissions during the bottling process.
Saint Clair continually review our glass bottle options to ensure we are selecting the most sustainable options. For example, the bottles used for the higher end Pioneer Block and Reserve Range wines have reduced in weight from 705g per bottle to just 545g per bottle whilst retaining the premium shape. This reduction of 160g per bottle has led to a lighter weight of 1.9kg per case, significantly decreasing the overall weight of our containers shipped globally.
At the lighter end of the scale, Saint Clair’s Origin and Vicar’s Choice range wines have transitioned from a 417g Burgundy bottle to a 390g Burgundy bottle, which continues to reduce the overall case and container weights.
These are all steps Saint Clair takes in conjunction with Chandler Glass & Packaging to prioritise sustainable packaging.
Label Production
Saint Clair labels are printed using Wrapt Labels. This New Zealand company only uses inks and materials that are ecofriendly and are a part of the globally leading Avery Dennison Recycling programme.
Viticulture
Future Posts
Saint Clair GM of Winegrowing Jarrah Prior and the viticulture team are actively replacing wooden vineyard posts with ‘Future Posts’ around Marlborough. Standard treated wooden posts only have a lifespan of 10 years and contain harsh chemicals that negatively impact the environment. These recycled Future Posts create a positive difference to our environment by reducing waste and the use of harmful chemicals. The recycled plastic that goes into Future Posts originates from wineries all over New Zealand, Saint Clair included. Plastic waste from the winery such as soft plastics, liners and barrel wrap is all sent to Re Plast for recycling into Future Posts.
Future Posts
Saint Clair GM of Winegrowing Jarrah Prior and the viticulture team are actively replacing wooden vineyard posts with ‘Future Posts’ around Marlborough. Standard treated wooden posts only have a lifespan of 10 years and contain harsh chemicals that negatively impact the environment. These recycled Future Posts create a positive difference to our environment by reducing waste and the use of harmful chemicals. The recycled plastic that goes into Future Posts originates from wineries all over New Zealand, Saint Clair included. Plastic waste from the winery such as soft plastics, liners and barrel wrap is all sent to Re Plast for recycling into Future Posts.
Grape Marc
Saint Clair reuses fermented grape skins as mulch in vineyards around the Marlborough region. Grape Marc works as an excellent mulch for Saint Clair’s vineyards, adding extra nutrients into the soils and feeding the growing vines. Saint Clair also gives a portion of its grape marc to local producers Cranky Goat who use the skins to make delicious cheeses.
Tiny Footprints
In previous years, the Green Team has planted many native plants around the Saint Clair Vineyard Kitchen and other areas in Marlborough.
- Worm farm – In house worm farm for all suitable food scraps.
- Composting facilities – All food waste not suitable for our worm farm is composted.
- Recycling – Full recycling facilitation including polystyrene and soft plastic partners.
- Barrels and staves - Staff members are encouraged to take home used oak staves for gardening. Barrels are often upcycled into furniture or art.
Chaptalisation –A chaptalisation station has been set up to utilise bulk 1000kg sugar bags instead of using individual 25kg bags.
ISO Containers –We encourage our distributors and buyers to use ISO containers rather than flexi tanks so that there isn’t a large plastic bag that needs to be disposed of/recycled.
Minismising Waste –Where possible we reuse the cardboard and bubble wrap from previous wine orders to fill the space when sending out part cases of wine, instead of buying brand new packaging.
Statistics
- Saint Clair makes 30% water savings related to the use of sub-surface irrigation throughout Saint Clair vineyards as opposed to above-ground technology.
- 50% of Saint Clair forklift fleet is powered by electricity. This portion of the fleet is used as priority equipment for daily tasks.
- Saint Clair wines are produced in 100% SWNZ-certified winemaking facilities.