CA EPR Legislation Stalls
A look at the organic wine market in France
California’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for packaging has been delayed after Governor Newsom rejected the current draft regulations, citing concerns over business costs. France’s organic wine sector continues to grow despite overall declines in wine consumption, with strong retail and direct-to-consumer sales. Raventós Codorníu becomes B Corp certified; Halter Ranch achieves Regenerative Organic Certification. Cabernet Sauvignon shows resilience to climate stress, specifically increased CO2 levels.
Legislation
California: State regulators will head back to the drawing board after the governor declined to accept their draft extended producer responsibility program language, delaying the implementation of EPR for packaging and requiring another round of rulemaking. Resource Recycling
The missed deadline also prompted some environmental advocates to suggest reintroducing a 2022 ballot measure that would have had more stringent environmental goals.
By statute, the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery needed to submit the full permanent rulemaking package needed to be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law by March 7.
However, on Friday afternoon, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said the current draft regulations would impose unacceptable burdens on businesses and add costs that would affect consumers, Bloomberg reported.
With the rulemaking deadline missed, regulators will have to convene another series of stakeholder meetings and develop a new draft, but the timeline is not yet clear.
Marketing
France: A look at the organic wine market in France, and if it can continue to buck the trend of declines in the wine sector overall. Beverage Daily
Overall wine consumption in France in 2023 dropped 2.3% (OIV - it has been in systemic decline for decades) but organic wine saw 6% volume growth and 7% value growth (Sudvinbo).
France is Europe’s largest organic products market, with 1 in 10 wines sold there being certified organic.
Sales of organic foodstuffs have stalled in the country, but not wine.
By channel – retail is up 12.4%, DTC is up 14%; although growth in supermarkets has stalled.
Penedes, Spain: Raventós Codorníu, the winery group known for its Codorníu Cava, has been certified as a B Corp company by B Lab Spain.
The company’s Codorníu Cava has had 100% organic production since 2023 while the company promotes biodiversity in its vineyards alongside minimizing environmental impact.
Paso Robles, CA: Halter Ranch has achieved Regenerative Organic Certified® (ROC™) status. Press Release via Wine Business
Halter Ranch is the second Paso Robles vineyard operation in the Adelaida District to achieve this status behind neighbor Tablas Creek.
The Halter Ranch Estate Vineyard is part of the 2,700-acre i nature preserve dedicated to land conservation, organic farming, and fine art. Approximately 90% of the Halter Ranch property is left to the natural landscape and wildlife.
Global: Samantha Cole-Johnson explains Ecological Outcome Verification. Jancis Robinson
A system of verification overseen by the Savory Institute, a non-profit organization whose mission is (quote)‘to facilitate the large-scale regeneration of the world’s grasslands and the livelihoods of their inhabitants, through Holistic Management.’
The institute has created a data-collection protocol that measures aspects of biodiversity, water, soil health and ecosystem function.
They verify growers who meet the baseline that they’ve established for a given region.
If you meet or exceed the baseline of all monitored aspects, then you can be verified.
The verification process does not require that you use specific practices but rather that you achieve certain outcomes.
Vinification
Europe: We touched on this new ruling last week, but The Drinks Business offer more context on the new EU rule allowing non-alcoholic wine to be certified organic.
The amendment, published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 25 February allows for dealcoholization of organic wine using vacuum distillation, a method that meets organic winemaking criteria and enables such products to carry the EU organic label.
Under the new rules, vacuum evaporation and distillation are permitted as long as temperatures do not exceed 75°C and filtration devices have a pore size no greater than 0.2 microns.
Finance
The study was evaluating the impact of the near $3 trillion green bond market, where companies raise capital for projects that limit climate change or otherwise benefit the environment.
It found that in aggregate terms, the emissions of green bond issuers fell by more than 10% in the four years after issuance and that emissions per unit of company revenue – a measure of emissions intensity - showed an even starker 30% drop.
Diversity & Equity
Rueda, Spain: The front label on Cuatro Rayas’ Green & Social (G&S) Verdejo uses the Braille alphabet to communicate details about the winery, grape variety and vintage to visually impaired people. The Drinks Business
G&S Verdejo, uses organic grapes, the paper used for the label is recycled and FSC-certified, while the capsule is 100% recyclable aluminum and free of plastic.
London, England: In a still male dominated part of the wine and spirits industry, Jane Renwick, director of fine wine at London City Bond (LCB), is on a mission to imbue women with the confidence to pursue a career in warehousing and logistics. Harpers
“Coming into a very male role,” Renwick added that becoming the first woman on the board was a “big opportunity for me. It enabled me to look at the entire business”, including encouraging and supporting women through accreditations such as the Bonded Warehouse Association (BWA) Certification, which focuses on customs and excise education.
Of the seven recent students put forward by Renwick at LCB, six were women – the majority of which passed with distinction. “So women are finding a place, but they are still not represented as much as men in this part of the industry,” Renwick added.
UK: WSET joins forces with Equal Measures to boost diversity in spirits industry. The Drinks Business
As part of the initiative, WSET will support up to 20 people during this academic year, providing access to its Level 2 and 3 Awards in Spirits.
Equal Measures, founded to create intersectional diversity from bar to boardroom, offers support to individuals from Black, Asian, and other minority ethnic groups, as well as queer, gender queer, neurodivergent persons, and those facing systemic barriers to career progression in hospitality.
US: MediaPost offers different views of how marketers and companies are continuing to implement diversity, equity and inclusion programs that work – often quietly or under different names.
Marketers still want -- and need -- to connect with women, people of color, and LGBTQ audiences. The challenge is doing so amid rising consumer cynicism, growing mistrust of corporate messaging, and increased scrutiny from conservative watchdogs.
“The best programs are tied to the fundamental success and mission of the business and financial success,” says Andre Banks, founder and CEO of NewWorld, a marketing and advocacy agency. “But those that were just Band-Aids for cultural problems never took hold. They didn’t have the ear of key leaders. They were already faltering before this backlash.”
US: VinePair explores how neurodivergent bartenders can be particularly well suited to the job.
Global: Diageo is halting new investment through the Distill Ventures accelerator program. JustDrinks via Yahoofinance
In a statement, the Guinness stout brewer, which is Distill Venture's sole investor, said: "Following more than ten successful years partnering with Distill Ventures to nurture and scale emerging spirits brands, we have undertaken a strategic review of our approach to early-stage, venture investments.
The decision, Just Drinks understands, is part of Diageo's "reshaped priorities" presented at the CAGNY event last month, when the company outlined a plan to deliver long-term sustainable growth.
Viticulture
Key physiological responses — such as leaf gas exchange, intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE) and whole-plant evapotranspiration — were monitored to determine how these grape varieties manage water and carbon intake in a warming world.
The results? Both varieties improved their water use efficiency under high CO2 and drought stress, but Cabernet Sauvignon showed greater resilience, maintaining higher iWUE and more stable photosynthetic performance than Chardonnay.
In essence Cabernet Sauvignon appears better suited to endure a future with less water and higher atmospheric carbon levels.
Sonoma, CA: Donum Estate’s Tony Chapman, Senior Director of Winegrowing, is hosting a webinar on March 20 titled Healthy Soils Create Premium Crops: How Regenerative Management Improves Quality and Creates Opportunity. Press release via Wine Industry Advisor
UK: Pernod Ricard’s Chivas Brothers announced that over 120 of their contracted farmers have achieved the UK’s first FSA Gold verification for distilling wheat, as part of their ongoing sustainability efforts and long-standing partnership with Simpsons Malt. Harpers Sustainability Charter
This ensures 100% of the distilling wheat supply provided to the Scotch whisky maker is verified to ‘Gold’ level by the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform, while also helping to establish a ‘benchmark’ for sustainable Scotch whisky production in the UK.
Global: There is a growing understanding of the link between soil health and human health that is driving development of new technologies in agriculture that aim to improve both soil quality and human wellbeing. AgTechNavigator
Nina Vinot, business development director at Cybèle Agrocare (a French agri-biotech firm) noted experiments have shown regeneratively farmed vegetables can present higher levels of polyphenols and antioxidants.
One study found a 35-65% increase in boron, manganese, zinc contents and 18-20% more copper, iron and manganese.
California: The Organic Transition Pilot Program, which provides up to $30,000 in direct funding to farmers and ranchers to support their transition to organic agriculture, has a fast approaching deadline - March 23rd, 2025 at 11:59PM. Organic Wine Uncorked
Carbon Footprint
Carbon Footprint for Google Ads is only available to a limited number of accounts but access will be broader in an unspecified future.
The tool will help ad agencies track emissions associated with online marketing and advertisements on a client-by-client basis “with greater precision,” Google said.
It uses widely accepted accounting methodologies from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and Global Media Sustainability Framework.
Packaging
UK: By the end of the year Aldi UK’s own-label wines (46 total) will cease to use capsules. The Drinks Business
Hawaii: Hawaiian fine dining restaurant Merriman’s, with locations on four Hawaiian islands, will replace several of its by-the-glass offerings with high-quality boxed wines. San Francisco Chronicle
The initiative is part of Merriman’s plans to become carbon-neutral, with the goal of cutting its glass use by roughly 20,000 wine bottles this year.
Thus far, the program includes six hip California wineries: Napa Valley’s Matthiasson, Frog’s Leap and Failla; Sonoma’s Obsidian Wine Co.; and Central Coast producers Linne Calodo and Melville.
Several have decided to also sell the boxes to wine club members, tasting room visitors and other restaurant accounts.
Matthiasson noted the packaging is less expensive, costing the winery about $2 less per bottle.
Carbon Sequestration
Panama: A study in the journal Global Change Biology showed a forest with five different types of trees can store around 36% more total carbon in the trunks and branches than the kind of monoculture crop often deployed in tree-planting initiatives. Anthropocene Magazine
The Sardinilla experiment is set on a former jungle in Panama that was logged in the early 1950s, then spent the rest of the 20th century as pasture.
Starting in 2001, scientists planted two dozen square plots, each roughly the size of half a U.S. football field, with between one and six different species of tropical trees.
The multi-species forests were better able to maintain steady and growing amounts of carbon sequestration in the face of a string of environmental stresses – unusually wet weather in 2010, followed by a severe drought and topped with the arrival of Hurricane Otto in 2016.