Diez Siglos Rueda Sauvignon Blanc Ecológico, DO Rueda [Organic]

A Note on Sustainability

In August 2022 Diez Siglos achieved Wineries for Climate Protection certification, the first and only specific certification for the wine sector in terms of environmental sustainability under the umbrella of the FEV (Spanish Wine Federation). It has four objectives: reduction of greenhouse gases, water management, waste reduction and renewable energies.

95% of the collective’s vineyards are wire trained and can be mechanically harvested at night to maintain a lower temperature in the grapes, reducing the amount of energy used for refrigeration during a cool maceration. The cellar is close to vineyards, reducing the cost and fuel consumption when transporting the grapes. All nutrients for the vineyards come from local, organic fertilisers, from the previous year’s green harvesting and vine clippings, and from the grape pomace remaining after fermentation which is all left on the soil to decompose. The collective already farms in an organic manner and will gradually obtain organic certification for all its vineyards over the coming years.

A lot of work has been done to reduce the winery’s carbon footprint. Because the equipment at the winery is relatively new, it benefits from modern thermal insulation which helps to keep vats warm or cool as required and thus reduces energy use. The bottling plant is also very new, some parts are less than two years old thanks to an increase in capacity, and it has been designed to minimise the need to move either dry goods or wine, and to reduce noise, energy cost and wastage to an absolute minimum. The latest generation of lightweight glass bottles is used to reduce the amount of energy needed for their production and to reduce transport costs and fuel usage. Solar panels have been installed to help reduce energy costs and the cellar has been converted to LED lighting, saving over 80% of the original electricity usage. An in-house water and sewage treatment plant has been installed; its water is then used to irrigate the vineyards.