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Sustainability at Henners

Henners estate is a founder member of Sustainable Wines of Great Britain (SWGB), an initiative established in 2020 with an aim to ensure sustainability is at the heart of the English and Welsh wine industry. SWGB’s objectives are centred around the following goals:

Reduce:

  • The carbon footprint of both vineyards and wineries

  • The energy and water footprint of wine production

  • The environmental impact of wine packaging

  • The quantity of vineyard and winery waste sent to landfill

Improve:

  • Winery design in order to reduce the environmental impact

  • The health of vineyard soils

Conserve:

  • The vineyard and surrounding environment in order to promote biodiversity

 

Optimise:

  • Pesticide inputs, minimising their use

  • Vineyard canopy management and grape yields

At The Winery

  • Installed energy efficient lighting - As part of the winery expansion & modernisation project, all new light fittings were installed with energy efficient bulbs and existing winery bulbs replaced.
     

  • Use of renewable suppliers - Henners have moved all of its electricity needs to a 100% renewable energy supplier.
     

  • Reduce water footprint of wine production - We have upgraded our waste-water management system, installed water meters for monitoring, and significantly reduced water usage on our tank washing regime through upgrading our cleaning practices.
     

  • Greener travel for visitors - Electric car charging points have been installed on-site in order to encourage & enable greener transport. Bike racks also installed for visitors.
     

  • Reduce winery waste sent to landfill - Recycle grape marc into cow feed for use by local farmers. We also recover the lees post-fermentation for re-use and waste reduction.
     

  • Reduce environmental impact of packaging - Moved to using lightweight bottles in 2020 as part of our goal to reduce environmental impacts of production & transportation.
     

  • Energy use reduction - implemented a co-fermentation with malo in order to reduce chiller usage during wine-making months for our 2023 vintage.

In The Vineyard

  • Conserve vineyard & promote biodiversity - In 2022 we planted a wild-flower meadow in the middle of the Vineyard in order to provide a safe-haven for native insects and promote biodiversity.
     

  • Reduce water footprint of grape production - We have installed a rainwater harvesting tank which is used in vineyard operations and for tractor washdowns, eliminating the need to use water from the mains.
     

  • Optimisation of pesticide inputs - Implementation of pheromone traps, bat boxes, and wild-flowers has increased our bio-diversity while eliminating the use of insecticides. Integrated pest- management programme includes effective under-vine management to minimise the need for sprays throughout the year.
     

  • Improve health of vineyard soils - Regular soil analysis allows us to tailor our nutrient spray programme to be more targeted & appropriate for the environment.
     

  • Optimisation of spray programme and reduction of water footprint - In 2022 we purchased a new sprayer in order to improve efficacy of our sprays through targeted directional nozzles. The effectiveness of its use is monitored using water sensitive paper across the vineyard (this changes colour as a warning if the spray is not as targeted as we would like).
     

  • Bring partners on our journey - We are actively working with our partner growers to move them towards certified status across their sites through education and sharing of best practices. Our largest partner-grower achieved this status in 2022.

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