Taking action

Our Climate and Nature Programme: the winners revealed

Dom de Ville introduces the winning entries in our inaugural Climate and Nature Programme set to make a real difference and provide a meaningful legacy in our 150th year.

Vajra harvest
Harvest at G.D. Vajra in Piedmont who will be using our funding to improve biodiversity in their vineyards

Someone recently said to me that I have one of the best jobs in wine, and the past few months have certainly felt like that. What a privilege it has been! Let me explain why.  

You may have heard that The Wine Society has launched our Climate and Nature Programme. Instead of balancing out some of the carbon we’re emitting by investing in external offsetting schemes, we thought it better to invest that money directly with our growers and producers instead. 

They own and have access to vast tracts of land, and while many are doing amazing things to support nature already, more would like to go further but lack the funds to get going. What’s more, for The Wine Society, there’s the added bonus of deepening already-great relationships with our suppliers and the potential for gaining even greater access to wines from a host of fantastic producers – this can only be good for our members. 

Putting our money where our mouth is 

So, in March 2024, we dedicated a pot of £64,000 (which is what it would cost us to be carbon neutral by offsetting) and put a call out to our suppliers to submit applications, not really knowing what the take-up would be.  

We had 37 applications from all over the world asking for help with some amazing projects: tree and hedgerow planting; rewilding; installing wildlife corridors; adopting more regenerative farming practices; introducing natural predators (such as bats) to reduce the need for pesticides; building homes for wild bees and other pollinators… even introducing dwarf pigs into a vineyard to fertilise the soil. The entries were many and varied, all were incredibly exciting and inspirational. 

How to select our winners 

We assembled a team of judges to review the applications and narrow down the selection to choose the winners. This included Pierre Mansour, our Director of Wine; Victoria Mason MW, our Buyer for Italy and US and regenerative viticulture specialist; Professor Cornelis van Leeuwen, Bordeaux Sciences Agro (our technical whiz on all things nature and climate); Tamlyn Currin, Sustainability Editor for JancisRobinson.com – and me, your Director of Sustainability at The Wine Society.  

What an inspiring and heartbreaking process it was. Inspiring because of the quality of the submissions and the aspirations of each project. Heartbreaking because we could only choose 11 and had to say no to 26. We can’t support them all, and with many producers existing on the margins of profitability, a few thousand pounds to help get a project under way can have a huge impact. It is often the difference between that project happening and not at all. 

What are we getting behind? 

So, what are we now funding? Below is a list of the 11 winners selected for our inaugural 2024 programme and a word or two about each project. We will of course be following progress over the next year as these projects get up and running and sharing regular updates with members in our Sustainability Hub. 

Don’t forget, we’ll be doing this every year from now on and are committed to making a positive impact in partnership with our producers. I’d love for members to get involved and be able to contribute if you wish. I don’t quite know how to do this yet, but if you have any suggestions, please drop me a line at: devilled@thewinesociety.com.

Winners of the 2024 Climate and Nature Fund 

  • Château d’Angles (Southern France) 
    An impressively holistic approach to agroecology and soil health, through the adoption of regenerative farming practices integrated with tree planting. Their goal, over the next three years, is to plant 950 trees so each vine is no more than 50 metres from a tree, while also adopting a variety of farming practices to regenerate the health of their vineyard soil and promote biodiversity. View the wines 
  • Scacciadiavoli (Italy) 
    Want to revive an ancient method of vine cultivation that has now largely fallen into disuse – the planting of ‘married grapevines’. The project is to test the financial and environmental benefits (and share the outcomes) of planting 35 trees together with 35 trebbiano spoletino vines to see how this improves resilience, biodiversity and wine quality.  View the wines 
  • Château Monconseil-Gazin (Bordeaux) 
    Want to build on their already impressive sustainability credentials by planting nearly 1,000m of new hedgerows around their vineyards. Made up of native shrubs the hedges will create wildlife habitats and absorb carbon from the atmosphere. Their goal is to plant 687m between November 2024 and April 2025, with the remaining 313m being planted the following year.  View the wines 
  • G.D. Vajra (Italy)  
    We loved GD Vajra’s ambition so much, we have agreed to support several projects over three years. The first projects involves identifying and testing the most effective indigenous botanical species of plants as cover crops between their vine rows.  Using indigenous species means they are much more likely to be beneficial to the local ecosystem and importantly they can be propagated, so the vineyard doesn’t have to buy new seeds every year, which are incredibly costly. The second project involves planting hundreds of meters of hedgerows throughout the vineyard, trialling different combinations of plants and shrubs, to identify which combinations have the most benefit (on local fauna and flora). The results will be shared widely with other growers. View the wines 
  • Iona Wines (South Africa)  
    Owner Rozy Gunn believes that to make good wine a vineyard must be teeming with life and so don’t use synthetic fertilisers, snail pellets, insecticides or herbicides. Rozy plans to plant 1,200m of hedgerows around their vineyard to provide a protective screen against chemical spray drift from neighbouring farms and create habitats and food for wildlife and insects. The hedgerows will consist of a variety of plants and shrubs, such as Kei Apple, Starry Wild Jasmine, Anisodontea and Ilex Mitis. 
  • Reyneke (South Africa) 
    Were so persuasive we have agreed to fund two projects. One to support mulching on 3.25ha of chenin blanc vines planted in 1976, helping to protect and preserve these old vines. Mulching involves spreading a layer of organic material (often prunings and other cuttings) on the soil under and between vines to protect the surface from erosion, reduce weeds and provide nutrients for the soil. The second project is simply to sponsor a parcel of Reyneke’s land to be rewilded with endemic plant species. View the wines 
  • Whistler Wines (Australia) 
    Want to find an alternative way to control weeds that doesn’t require chemical treatments or tilling but contributes instead to moisture retention, carbon sequestration and soil health. Our funding will support a series of trials over three years to determine the best combination of cover crop and mulching techniques that might achieve these aims. The results of these trials will be shared widely with other growers. View the wines 
  • Vignerons Mais Autrement (VMA) (Bordeaux) 
    Is a co-operative with a strong commitment to encouraging environmentally friendly and economically viable grape growing among its members. They are keen to test and apply increasingly more regenerative agricultural practices throughout their vineyards. One such project is to test the viability of hydroseeding –a way of applying a mixture of water, cellulose fibre and seeds that will grow beneficial crops under the vines improving weed control, soil health and carbon sequestration. View the wines 
  • Lyrarakis (Greece) 
    Transitioned to organic viticulture in 2020, have stopped ploughing between vine rows and only use their own fertiliser made of organic waste from their kitchen, the winemaking process, and the nearby oil mills. Our funding will help Lyrarakis purchase a mower accessory for their tractor to manage under-vine weeds and cultivate cover crops. These are essential for adding nutrients into the soil, retaining moisture and reducing erosion. They also provide food and habitats for beneficial insects and pollinators and temper the summer heat for the vines. View the wines
  • Scheid Vineyards (US) 
    We are supporting Scheid in their efforts to obtain Bee Friendly Farming (BFF) Certification, offered by Pollinator Partnership. This project aims to support Scheid in planting and creating habitats and food for native bee colonies. View the wines 
  • Château de la Grave (Bordeaux) 
    Like many in the region, de la Grave have decided to reduce the surface area of their vineyard, focusing on quality over quantity and also diversification. One such project involves planting fruit, olive and truffle trees, establishing pre-orchards which will combine fruiting trees with meadows for grazing and breeding their sheep and horses. The trees provide protection from wind and soil erosion as well as improving soil quality. Denser grazing will enrich biodiversity and help move the farm away from monoculture. View the wines 

> Discover more producers making a difference 

> View our Sustainabilty Strategy and Reports 

Climate and nature winning wines

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Dom de Ville

Director of sustainability and social impact

Dom de Ville

Dom, our director of sustainability and social impact, has overall responsibility and accountability for our sustainability plan, and has been involved in sustainability for most of his 20-year career, including ten years in international development.

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