There are many elements that are included to create a world-class wine. The flavor of the wine is drastically impacted by every element of the winemaking process. Even the barrels used to ferment the wine have a drastic impact on the way the wine tastes, smells and feels as it goes down.

In a similar manner, Yealands Estate has found a way to blend innovative business strategies, green practices and quality wine making to create award-winning wines that have wine connoisseurs around the world buzzing.

Located in Blenheim, New Zealand, Yealands Estate sprawls over 1,000 hectares, with a winery that has the capacity of 12 to 14,000 tonnes. The Estate, which is New Zealand’s third largest winery, is owned by Peter Yealands, a man who understands what it’s like to work both the brains and brawn of an operation.

At 63 years old, Yealands has worked for himself for nearly half a century, and has been the forerunner in several industries. In 1971, Yealands was issued the first marine farming franchise in New Zealand. From the innovative technology that Yealands brought into the industry, marine farming now contributes $160 million a year to New Zealand’s export earnings. Additionally, Yealands established one of New Zealand’s most successful deer farms, specializing in stud animals and embryo transplants during the 1980s. This 2,000-hectare property in Kaiuma Bay in the Marlborough Sounds won a Rural Environment Award in 2003. “I have lived one hell of a varied lifestyle,” laughed Yealands.

THE BEGINNING

In 1999, Yealands and his wife, Vai, invested in property in the foothills of the Marlborough’s Seaward Kaikoura Ranges, which was considered an unproven area. The purchase was inspired by the couple’s time spent in Melbourne in 1997. According to Yealands, being surrounded by the Australian bush and native fauna transformed him into a “greenie,” which led him to want to create a vineyard that was not only peaceful and beautiful, but also sustainable.

“I’ve always believed in doing things once, and doing them properly,” said Yealands. “While it may be more costly short term, to create a sustainable vineyard, I wanted to build my vineyards solidly without any shortcuts.”

The Yealands Winery cost Yealands $45 million to build, but his investment has already begun to give back a return in terms of its sustainability.

“I drew in the best people from around the world to build my winery, and there is very little [in green wineries] that we don’t already have,” said Yealands. “We have had every conceivable element since day one.”

According to Peter Mann, the operations manager for Yealands Estate, one of the most energy efficient elements of the winery is its heat recovery.

“The biggest energy user is the refrigeration plant, which is used to cool the wine down,” said Mann. “Prior to disposing our heat through an evaporative condenser, as most wineries and industrial sites do, our heat goes through a heat exchanger, where the heat is removed, and then put back into warm glycol to warm our wine in a different part of the winemaking process. Over the course of a year, 120,000 kilowatt hours of heat are conserved, with free energy for us.”

FINDING A BALANCE BETWEEN SUSTAINABLE AND AFFORDABLE

Throughout the construction of the winery, Yealands made a point to find the balance between being sustainable and affordable.

“There has to be an element of common sense,” said Yealands. “For instance, when using a fungicidal on my vine leaves, there are no organic fungicides that are as good as chemicals, which I believe are okay to use if they are not harmful. One single pass of the chemical product will do the job 100 percent, whereas an organic treatment will take six to eight passes to do the same job. That’s not sustainable; that’s extra travel and fuel. There is a line to be drawn, and we have drawn it.”
Yealands estate has been carboNZero certified, and is New Zealand’s largest winery to obtain accreditation, offsetting its emissions since inception.
 
“Our winery measures it’s carbon footprint, and then buys credits to offset our carbon footprint,” explained Mann. “The winemaking, packaging, transportation, bottling and every element of the wine process is carbon neutral. Upon arriving to its port of destination, all our branded wine is carbon neutral.”

While it is not a formal part of Yealands’ policy, the winery tries to deal with local businesses before seeking elsewhere.

“However, we are not in an industrial town, so there is not a lot of what we are looking for. We work with our minor companies whenever we can,” said Mann.
To accomplish this, Yealands Estate employees must keep record of every amount of diesel and petrol used, look up the emission factors of equipment used and discover the carbon footprint for each process. Annually, Yealands Estate purchases $35,500 in carbon credits.

A recent survey of wineries in New Zealand  winery operated twice as efficiently as the industry standard (energy consumed/liter of wine produced).

“As part of New Zealand Sustainable Winegrowers, it is important for us to have continual improvement, and we always try to do better than the year prior,” said Mann. “This really drives innovation and creative ideas.”

TRENDSETTING

From these ideas, several unique energy ideas have been birthed. The entire winery has been built inside a fully insulated building, saving the winery money on energy that would have been required to fight against wind and rain to keep the tanks at their right temperature levels.

Instead of mowing the 4,000 km vineyard several times a year, Yealands has a flock of Babydoll sheep; a short-legged sheep that is unable to reach the vineyard buds within the vineyard, all year long. This flock keeps the vineyard clear of overgrown grass, while keeping diesel use and costs down.

Looking toward the future, the winery will pursue to use wind power to help generate half of its energy. Wind turbines have been installed, and are currently generating a small amount of power.

“The turbines are producing about 3 kilowatts each,” stated Mann. “Within two to four years, we will be well on our way to our goal of being 100 percent self-sufficient. The only thing that holds us back is capital, and we are a new winery in a capital intensive industry.”

As the Yealands’ wine reputation grows, the winery and vineyard have also grown to accommodate the demand. Each year, a new building is attached to the winery, with additional tanks and presses added in place for space utilization.

“Yealands is not the type of business owner that keeps his industry plans a secret,” says Mann.

“We are always more than happy to pass on our information,” said Mann. “Dozens of other vineyards have come to look at our operations, and I have given several presentations on energy efficiency.”

A HANDS ON APPROACH

As the owner of Yealands Estate, Yealands believes in working alongside his employees.

“I spread myself among the team, encouraging and motivating them,” said Yealands. “Now, I’m the ambassador of the brand, so I travel across the world, while still having a hand in the final decisions made at the winery.”

As with any family-owned business, all employees are treated as family, and have developed a fierce loyalty to their employers.

“Some of my employees have worked for me since I was in my early 20s,” said Yealands. “We provide them all with incentives, perks, bonuses and vehicles. We have developed a reputation for being very good to work for, and have requests for employment from all over the world.”

By 2011, the vineyard will mature and the winery will have been built to its fullest capacity. However, Yealands will not be content to merely enjoy the fruit of his labor before beginning his next adventure.

“Between my other endeavors, there is a lot to keep me interested and busy,” said Yealands. “The Yealands Winery is the jewel in my crown.”