Nursery celebrates first to be accredited

4 April, 2008

Corbans Viticulture is celebrating its achievement of becoming the first New Zealand grape propagation nursery to be accredited as sustainable by Sustainable Winegrowers New Zealand (SWNZ).

Producing high quality grafted grapevines through sustainable practices is a core element of Corbans Viticulture. In 2007 the company was one of the first grape propagation nurseries to adopt the Grafted Grapevine Standard (GGS).

Dennis Lunken, CEO for Corbans Viticulture comments, “Our company has always been at the forefront of technological innovation in nursery practices through an extensive Research and Development programme, so it was logical that we should become the first viticulture nursery to embrace sustainable nursery practices as part of the Sustainable Winegrowing programme.”

Being environmentally conscious is nothing new in New Zealand – particularly in grape growing and winemaking, but what was once labelled a trend will eventually turn into an industry standard. Corbans has also enrolled in the carboNZero programme as part of its commitment to creating a more sustainable business - the first nursery in New Zealand to do so.

Lunken says, “To maintain New Zealand wine industry’s profile as a premium wine producer all sectors of the wine industry must be committed to ‘best practice’. This commitment should not only be from technological standpoint but also include the best possible environmental practices from the nursery to the winery to underpin the country’s ‘clean green’ image.”

Lunken is upbeat about the future image of the New Zealand wine industry “Corbans continues to produce millions of grafted vines that are of the highest possible health, tested free of virus, produced under a sustainable regime and this can only continue to enhance the reputation of the New Zealand wine industry as producers of premium quality wines with environmental integrity”.