Sustainability
At The Lane Vineyard we take sustainability seriously. We are working at being socially responsible, environmentally sound and economically viable. The Lane has implemented many sustainable and environmentally friendly practices across our business and are a certified member of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia – holding official Australian Wine Research Institute sustainability accreditation.
We understand and are humbled by our responsibility to invest in and protect the wonderful natural resources of The Lane Vineyard as these resources are inextricably linked to the quality and character of our wines.
Here are some of the ways that The Lane is caring for the environment.
Irrigation and Wastewater
We have adopted a range of cleaner production practices in the winery to improve the quality of our wastewater. This results in ‘cleaner’ wastewater that is treated on-site then returned to the vineyard as irrigation water.
We selected this method because there is no interaction with groundwater or surface flows. The wastewater tanks are situated within a bunded dam as a spill retention strategy to further minimise any risk to the environment.
We use soil probes to measure the water content of the soil allowing for precise irrigation – ensuring water is used when and where it is needed – reducing wastage.
Sheep
Running sheep through the vineyard over the Autumn / Winter maintains pasture, removes hard to kill weeds and returns organic fertiliser back to the vineyard. This also reduces chemical input, machinery operations and labour to manage these areas over the winter months. We also use composted chicken manure to fertilise vines and increase the organic matter in the soil.
Chemical Selections
In the vineyard we are taking steps to eliminate herbicide and pesticide use. Our aim is to promote abundant organic organisms within the soil profile and natural control of pests within the vine canopy.
Continually changing products and using softer products that have minimal / no effect on the environment. We use Sulphur to manage fungal disease which has a low impact on beneficial insects and no residual carryover into the wines.
Solar
In 2018, with the support of the Government of South Australia’s Regional Development Fund through Primary Industries and regions SA (PIRSA), The Lane installed a 60kW / 300 solar panel system which supplies 30-40% of our estate’s annual energy consumption. This is saving approximately 2,505 MT (metric ton) of carbon emissions over the lifetime of the system (25 years).
The Lane’s solar energy project is in line with an overarching state government objective to reduce CO2 emissions and assists them in meeting their stated 2015 energy policy.
Energy Conservation
We are actively reducing energy emissions through a state of the art cooling system and energy efficient lighting throughout the winery, dining and tasting room
In 2019, as part of a retailer energy efficiency scheme, we switched our high voltage winery lighting to voxlen II highbay canopy lights to lower our energy output.
Packaging
We bottle and package wine using recyclable materials and are constantly looking for ways to reduce supply chain waste.
Our warehouse and dispatch team have eliminated all plastic wrapping and packaging, using only 100% recycled and fully compostable hex wrap when sending single bottles.
Our kitchen and restaurant use only compostable, recyclable or reusable items – we favour using glassware, linen and stainless steel cutlery over any disposable items. Picnic food is packaged in food-grade sugarcane or bamboo trays and containers which are 100% compostable. We have eliminated all single use plastics from the organisation.
We are in the process of joining APCO – The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) which is a not for profit organisation leading the development of a circular economy for packaging in Australia.
APCO members collaborate to keep packaging materials out of landfill and to retain the maximum value of the materials, energy and labour within the local economy.
Vine Management
Our vineyard team use multi-row equipment to reduce fuel consumption and limit soil compaction. We use modern fuel efficient tractors and new recycling spray units which reduces drift and minimises consumption.
We utilise an in-field grape de-stemmer during harvest which ensures only grapes are transported from the vineyard. Stalks and other non-grape matter remain in the vineyard as highly valuable organic matter.
Recycling
We re-purpose all oak barrels after 6-8 years and recycle old vineyard posts to reduce landfill. We bundle old posts and provide to farmers who need them for fencing – we were able to support fire affected farmers on Kangaroo Island by providing them with old vineyard posts.
Our kitchen utilises a worm farm and worm leachate to fertilise our vegetable garden. Food scraps are fed to our estate sheep. Excess produce and by-products are used in our Pantry range, reducing our waste and utilising every drop, leaf, stem and root.
Native Habitat Protection
The Lane Vineyard is home to a variety of native fauna and we happily coexist with many kangaroos, koalas, possums and other smaller marsupials, frogs and birds.
We are focused on protecting these animals from threats – from pollution of waterways, loss of habitat and predation by foxes, cats and domestic dogs.
Native animals are important for many reasons:
- as indicators of healthy ecosystems, waterways and habitats – for example frogs in wetlands
- native animals play important roles in ecosystems such as; keeping some animals from becoming too numerous (predators), managing vegetation growth (herbivores) or providing food, and recycling organic matter (decomposers)
- the vast majority of visitors enjoy seeing wildlife and value their presence in our landscape
