Ep.61. / Sustainability: Future or Green Washing? Interview with F. Rosner from 'Sustainable Austria'

As I've already had some guests on the show, who had a strong opinion about different approaches to farming and certifications, I've decided to highlight the topic of sustainability in this episode. Although sustainable certifications don't enjoy the glorious reputation of the biodynamic or even organic ones, I think it deserves our attention and understanding. For this reason, I invited Mr. Franz Rosner, research coordinator at the Federal Institute of Viticulture and Fruit Production in the Austrian Klosterneuburg. He spoke on behalf of the 'Sustainable Austria' label, which is a national certification, specializing in viticulture. He told me how sustainability is a more holistic approach, not only focusing on agriculture, and how this approach is considering for example CO2 emissions or energy usage as well. He elaborated on why winemakers should go for both sustainable and organic certification at the same time, and how growers could use their set of numerous criteria for self-development year by year. Fascinating topic and an eye-opening conversation. And I can certainly recommend this episode to fellow WSET Diploma students who might write their D6 assignment about the topic of sustainability. Thanks for listening and leave your feedback via Instagram or E-mail, enjoy! 1:42- Introduction to Sustainability 3:24 - 3 pillars and criteria for Sustainability 10:25 - The final goal of the certification and the sustainable effort 13:04 - Organic VS Sustainable Certification 16:29 - The future of Certifications and criteria 22:35 - How are the criteria created? 23:26 - What is 'Integrated Pest Management'? 27:38 - Green House Gas Importance 32:17 - Final Message Guest: Franz Rosner | Sustainable Austria | Wine Ghosts Instagram: @wineghosts | Support & Get Exclusive on the Wine Ghosts Patreon Site: https://www.patreon.com/wineghosts | Join the Wine Ghosts Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/wineghosts/ | Wine Ghosts' Channels (Instagram, Podcast etc.): https://linktr.ee/wineghosts