Episode Details

Variety is the spice of life! It's crucial to keep this in mind when we look at monocrops like wine grape vineyards. The good news is, SIP Certified vineyards protect natural habitat and encourage biodiversity.

Welcome to Marketing Tip Monday with SIP Certified. We know customers are looking for wines labeled as sustainable. While our longer-form episodes help you learn about the latest science and research for the wine industry, these twice-monthly micro podcasts will help you share your dedication to sustainable winegrowing so you can show your customers that you share their values.

Monocrops put a damper on biodiversity. They can deplete soils and put native plant and animal species out of a home.

The vineyard must be thought of as its own ecosystem inside of a larger ecosystem. That's why sustainable winegrowers emphasize biodiversity in their vineyards.

They preserve open space and keep portions of the property un-cropped, use native plants that beneficial insects love in their cover crops and landscaping, and maintain short- and long-term conservation plans.

Protecting and regenerating habitat ensures that future generations have a healthy, thriving planet to call home. Maverick Farming, a vineyard management company in Santa Barbara that manages several SIP Certified properties, made changes to their tillage practices and noticed several benefits to their habitat.

By working with the natural environment, Maverick Farming has improved their soil health, increased the number of beneficial insects, established native grasses, and saved money. This helped to improve the habitat, and it freed up funds to spend on more sustainability projects.

Chad Foster, Operations Manager of Maverick Farming, says that what originally began as a way to be more effective with their budgeting, reducing tillage practices and allowing native grasses to flourish as cover crops have promoted root growth and better vine health in the vineyards they manage.

These reductions in tillage encourage beneficial soil microbes and insect populations to establish themselves in these vineyards. Chad notices an uptick in lacewing and ladybugs where the cover crops have been allowed to flourish.

The highly regenerative nature of native grasses makes them an excellent cover crop, as they reseed themselves when they get mowed down. This is a great example of how working with an environment's natural ecosystem can support a cultivated agricultural system.

In some blocks, disking and leveling are necessary due to vertebrate pests making grounds uneven, but Maverick decided to stop tilling just to till – their land didn't have much of a need, as there weren't many erosion issues. They no longer disc after harvest, and are able to take the money that was once spent on these efforts and either save it or move it to more pressing projects.

Your commitment to sustainability is something to be proud of.

Your brand goes above and beyond to track its progress and make improvements over time, all in the name of protecting the people and the planet.

Did you know that monitoring your progress toward a goal increases the likelihood of goal success? The effect is even larger when outco