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M. B. Johnson and M. Mehrvar
1 Introduction
Wine production represents a significant worldwide industry, with total volumetric
production in 2019 of 260 million hectoliters of wine [29]. In terms of economic
impact, the wine-making industry contributed an estimated e14 billion to the
economy of Italy alone in 2018 [45], a country long recognized for wine production.
Even in smaller wine-producing regions, the local economic impacts can be significant. For example, in 2012 Canada was home to a modest 476 wineries employing
over 3,700 employees and revenues of over $1 billion, with an annual average growth
rate of over 5% (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, nd). Ensuring sustainable practices in the wine industry is critical to ensuring continued success and growth within
the sector.
As ecologically and environmentally mindful production processes are becoming
more important to manufacturers and consumers alike, water stewardship has
emerged as an effective means to reduce the environmental impact of the production
of numerous goods. A number of drivers and barriers to improved water stewardship
specific to the wine-making industry in Italy have been identified by Aivazidou and
Tsolakis [2], and are applicable to wine producers worldwide (Table 1).
The Water Footprint (WF) assessment was developed to address a need for a
global standard to quantify the impact of human activity on local water resources
[28]. This approach addresses one of the critical barriers to effective water stewardship by providing a framework for a standardized approach and methodology in
the assessment of water resource impacts. This standardization provides a means to
benchmark performance, allowing the direct comparison of a production facility’s
performance to other similar facilities. It also allows the implementation of mitigation measures to be prioritized to reduce and quantify the reduction in environmental
impacts.
The wine-making process can be divided into two main components: viticulture
and vinification [25]. The first is an agricultural process, with grapes as the final
product. The latter uses fresh grapes, the key ingredient, and a number of mechanical
and chemical processing steps to produce wine, the final product. Because of the
mix of agricultural and industrial processes, the wine-making utilizes a complex mix
Table 1 Water stewardship drivers and barriers in the wine-making industry (adapted from [2])
Drivers
Barriers
• Sustainable marketing
• Geographic limitations and differences
• Consumer behaviour
• Limited marketing differentiation
• Correlation between wine quality and local
water resource health
• Lack of standardization in approach and
methodologies
• Production effectiveness
• Recent benchmarking initiatives
• Funding and policies for water management
M. B. Johnson and M. Mehrvar
1 Introduction
Wine production represents a significant worldwide industry, with total volumetric
production in 2019 of 260 million hectoliters of wine [29]. In terms of economic
impact, the wine-making industry contributed an estimated e14 billion to the
economy of Italy alone in 2018 [45], a country long recognized for wine production.
Even in smaller wine-producing regions, the local economic impacts can be significant. For example, in 2012 Canada was home to a modest 476 wineries employing
over 3,700 employees and revenues of over $1 billion, with an annual average growth
rate of over 5% (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, nd). Ensuring sustainable practices in the wine industry is critical to ensuring continued success and growth within
the sector.
As ecologically and environmentally mindful production processes are becoming
more important to manufacturers and consumers alike, water stewardship has
emerged as an effective means to reduce the environmental impact of the production
of numerous goods. A number of drivers and barriers to improved water stewardship
specific to the wine-making industry in Italy have been identified by Aivazidou and
Tsolakis [2], and are applicable to wine producers worldwide (Table 1).
The Water Footprint (WF) assessment was developed to address a need for a
global standard to quantify the impact of human activity on local water resources
[28]. This approach addresses one of the critical barriers to effective water stewardship by providing a framework for a standardized approach and methodology in
the assessment of water resource impacts. This standardization provides a means to
benchmark performance, allowing the direct comparison of a production facility’s
performance to other similar facilities. It also allows the implementation of mitigation measures to be prioritized to reduce and quantify the reduction in environmental
impacts.
The wine-making process can be divided into two main components: viticulture
and vinification [25]. The first is an agricultural process, with grapes as the final
product. The latter uses fresh grapes, the key ingredient, and a number of mechanical
and chemical processing steps to produce wine, the final product. Because of the
mix of agricultural and industrial processes, the wine-making utilizes a complex mix
Table 1 Water stewardship drivers and barriers in the wine-making industry (adapted from [2])
Drivers
Barriers
• Sustainable marketing
• Geographic limitations and differences
• Consumer behaviour
• Limited marketing differentiation
• Correlation between wine quality and local
water resource health
• Lack of standardization in approach and
methodologies
• Production effectiveness
• Recent benchmarking initiatives
• Funding and policies for water management