* Sustainability
We are a founding member of Long Island Sustainable Winegrowing
Healthy vineyards depend on healthy land. We care for ours as a living ecosystem, making decisions that support the vines, the soil and the people who work here. Our aim is to grow exceptional fruit while leaving the land in better condition for the future.
* Long Island Sustainable Winegrowing
How the program began
Channing Daughters Winery and our former CEO, Larry Perrine, worked with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, Cornell University and a group of Long Island growers and winemakers to create an independent, third party-certified sustainable viticulture program tailored to the East End’s ecosystem.
It is based on Cornell’s Vine Balance Grower Self-Assessment Workbook, adapted to our local ecosystem by the founders of LISW, and inspired by the pioneering West Coast work of the Lodi Rules and Oregon LIVE programs.
Long Island Sustainable Winegrowing provides education and certification for Long Island vineyards. Launched in 2012, it was the first third-party sustainable certification program on the East Coast.
- Launched
- 2012
- Organization
- 501(c)(3) not‑for‑profit
- The checklist
- Nearly 200 practices
* Our practices
What we do at Channing Daughters
Recycling
We recycle 100% of the grape pomace (skins, seeds and pulp) from each harvest and, with our neighbor’s horse manure, make 40 tons of compost every year. All vine prunings are chopped and returned to the soil in our vineyards.
Organic nitrogen
We feed our vineyards with our farm-made compost and other organic sources of nitrogen, so we use no synthetic nitrogen. These slow-release forms keep nitrogen from leaching into our groundwater, creeks and bays, and contribute to the bays’ gradual renewal.
Cover crops
More than 90% of each acre of vines is under permanent mixed cover crops, which protect the soil from erosion and add to the biodiversity of our farm.
Social responsibility
All employees are paid a living wage, and full-time employees are provided with standard health insurance. Training for safety and advancement is a normal part of the job.
* The idea
The three spheres of sustainability
Sustainability is a holistic system that takes into account the three E’s: environmental, economic and social equity.
- Environmental
- Natural resource use · Environmental management · Pollution prevention (air, water, land, waste)
- Social
- Standard of living · Education · Community · Equal opportunity
- Economic
- Profit · Cost savings · Economic growth · Research & development
- Social and environmental
- Environmental justice · Natural resource stewardship · Locally and globally
- Environmental and economic
- Energy efficiency · Incentives for the use of natural resources
- Economic and social
- Business ethics · Fair trade · Workers’ rights
- Where all three meet
- Sustainability
Adapted from the 2002 University of Michigan Sustainability Assessment
* The standards
What every member does
Members must complete a checklist of nearly 200 sustainable grape-growing practices, from vineyard planning and the storage of fertilizer and fungicide to which materials are encouraged or prohibited. The goal is healthy farmland soils, a protected maritime and estuary ecosystem, and ground and surface water kept free of leaching and runoff.
- Weed control strategies reduce or eliminate herbicide use
- Canopy management (leaf removal, hedging, shoot thinning) helps control disease
- Fertilization is limited to 20 lbs per acre a year, to reduce nitrogen leaching into groundwater
- Cover crops on the vineyard floor are mandatory, to reduce soil erosion
- Irrigation is limited
- Integrated Pest Management (IPM) reduces the use of insecticides and fungicides
- All restricted-use fungicides and insecticides are prohibited
- Part of every property must remain in a natural state, as an ecological compensation area
- Growers must take part in continuing education