Oregon Certified Sustainable Wine Website Launches on Earth Day
PORTLAND, Ore., April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, in 1970, the first Earth Day celebration was held, marking the dawn of the modern environmental movement. In keeping with that spirit, the Oregon Certified Sustainable Wine (OCSW) program today launches www.ocsw.org, a website and first step in a movement to help consumers understand sustainable farming and winemaking, from vine to bottle. OCSW was created in 2008 to increase awareness, communicate the importance and guarantee of certification and encourage distribution of sustainable wines so consumers can access them.
Currently, 11 Oregon wineries have earned OCSW certification, totaling nearly 450,000 bottles of wine. Wineries include Adelsheim Vineyard, Amity Vineyards, Anne Amie Vineyards, Bethel Heights Vineyard, Cristom Vineyards, Montinore Estate, Panther Creek Cellars, Ponzi Vineyards, WillaKenzie Estate, Willamette Valley Vineyards and Wooldridge Creek Winery.
The website is intended to start a conversation about the shared principles of responsible farming and winemaking, as well as the importance of the third-party certification.
The site is designed to engage and build awareness of sustainability as it applies to the wine industry. Social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter will also be deployed to help build the grassroots communication among wine consumers.
In partnership with certification agencies throughout the state, OCSW enables producers to clearly communicate these practices in an understandable manner, highlight shared principles among the various certification philosophies and forge relationships with consumers who make environmental awareness or action a priority. The OCSW logo guarantees that the wine in that bottle was made using responsible agriculture and responsible winemaking practices and certified by an independent third party.
"Our direct relationships with consumers allow us to have the conversations that change minds," says Pat Dudley of Bethel Heights Vineyard. "We're sending a clear message to the people who promote, distribute, sell and consume our wine that our practices are helping to achieve their goals; telling them that we support their values and asking them to support ours."
Visit www.ocsw.org to learn more about the program, find OCSW certified wines and read about our featured wineries.
For more information or to schedule an interview with a participating OCSW winery, please contact Stephany Boettner, Marketing & Communications Director at the Oregon Wine Board, at 503.228.8652 or stephany@oregonwine.org.
