It's wine o' clock somewhere: Water Efficiency for Vineyards.

The UK wine industry is booming. There has been a big increase in UK wine production over the past few years. In 2020 alone, 1.4m vines were planted across 800 vineyards. As you’d expect, the south of England accounts for 98% of the vineyards, but there are also wine growers in Wales and Scotland.

At its Sustainability in the Vineyard conference in 2021, the UK organisation Sustainable Wine held a session about water use in the wine industry.

The discussion was focused on water efficiency and sustainability, with speakers discussing their own sustainability measures in vineyards and wineries.

The main points were:

- Closely measure water consumption.

- Constantly monitor the humidity of the soil so you irrigate at the best time, leading to less waste

- Introduce drip irrigation - irrigating slowly over two days allows the vines to take up the water, rather than it draining away.

- Plant cover crops between the vines to capture the moisture rather than allowing water to run off

- Use biochar which helps water retention as well as fertilises the soil.

- Surround each vine with a thick layer of straw over biochar which helps water retention and increases the humidity

- Create reservoirs to direct and store rainwater and run-off water in the wet season.

- Treat water used to clean winery vats to make it viable for irrigation.

- Introduce whole bunch pressing, which reduces the amount of machinery needed to process the grapes.

- Go organic - organic viticulture means you don’t have to wash the grapes.

A great first step to make immediate cost savings is to switch to Castle Water and save up to 20% on your water bills.