Winery and Cellar Door
Wonnarua Country/ Pokolbin, New South Wales
Completed the Strive 4 Sustainability Scorecard
From a weekend venture for self-professed hobby winemakers, Brokenwood Wines evolved into one of Australia’s most reputable wine labels.
At Brokenwood, they are dedicated to creating excellent wines and an even better visitor experience. Taste a drop of their award winning Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz or beloved Cricket Pitch range while you dine at their modern Australian The Wood Restaurant or Terrace Wine Bar.
Formerly a passion project, Brokenwood Wines was formed in 1970 by a trio of Sydney-based solicitors, Tony Albert, John Beeston and James Halliday, in the foothills of the Brokenback Ranges. Now a leading 5-star winery icon of the Hunter Valley, Brokenwood Wines and Vineyard is a certified member of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia with a strong and extensive commitment to improving their sustainability efforts. This commitment was their main motivation for undertaking the Strive 4 Sustainability Scorecard, delivered in partnership with Destination NSW.
“We saw the Strive 4 Sustainability Scorecard as an opportunity to inform our potential guests and industry peers about what we are doing here at Brokenwood Wines in regard to sustainability,” said Laboratory Supervisor & Sustainability Manager, Lorrae St Vincent.
“For us it’s all about developing continuous improvement practices across all areas of the business that promote sustainable environmental and social outcomes, so it was a good way to benchmark our current practices and identify some of these areas we need to improve on moving forward,” she continued.
After completing the Scorecard, Brokenwood Wines received a detailed feedback report with acknowledgements and recommendations against each of the 50 criteria. This was helpful in setting a pathway for further improvement.
“It is good to get a different perspective on the systems you have in place and whether they are in fact adequate or require further development in the short and long term sustainability strategies of the business. Our next steps involve formulating a plan of attack to address those key areas where we need to put better systems in place, and incorporate them into everyday business practice,” said Lorrae.
But the Scorecard is not just about how you can improve, it is also an opportunity to proudly demonstrate your existing sustainability achievements to guests.
“The Scorecard program is a great opportunity to showcase the achievements we’ve made across the business in terms of sustainability management and highlight the areas where we need to improve for the benefit of our customers and the broader community.”
And Brokenwood have accrued many shining achievements over their 10-year sustainability journey.
As well as adopting the Australian Grape & Wine sector’s Emissions Reduction Roadmap with the aim to reduce carbon emissions throughout their production chain by 42 percent by 2030, they are also a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant and are committed to achieving the 2025 National Packaging Targets. Their Graveyard Vineyard is one of four demonstration sites selected to be part of the National Ecovineyards Program in the Hunter Valley region with a Biodiversity Action Plan to enhance soil health and oversee the planting of native insectary corridors.
For the business’ next steps, they will be using the assessment feedback to guide their future action.
“Now we have identified where we need to improve, we will aim to put systems in place that will help our business achieve a higher score on the Scorecard next time around.”
Brokenwood Wines’ Strive 4 Sustainability Scorecard is available on the Sustainability section of their website so that guests and peers can follow along with their sustainability journey. You can view their sustainability page here: https://www.brokenwood.com.au/About/Sustainability
Brokenwood Wines completed their Strive 4 Sustainability Scorecard on 9 October 2023 and is a snapshot of their current sustainability practices. The scorecard is not a certification and is valid for 12 months upon completion.
- Introduce a balanced structure of member-elected Directors (maximum 5) and Board-appointed Directors (maximum 4)
- Update Director terms from 2 years to 3 years, with a maximum of two terms (6 years total)
- Meet current regulatory requirements for a Company Limited by Guarantee
- Be modernised and contemporary to meet Ecotourism Australia’s strategic imperatives and our objectives
- Provide a streamlined and concise governance framework.
