It is not just grapes that are fermenting in the Niagara region these days. Green ideas are also bubbling up in wine country, in the form of sustainable building design, energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, innovative waste treatment and fewer chemicals in the vineyards.

On June 29, Stratus Vineyards will receive a plaque from the Canada Green Building Council, making it the first winery worldwide to be certified under the leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) program. It is also the first building in the country to be certified through LEED Canada.

To do that, the winery, which was established in 2000, had to meet criteria in five main categories: Sustainable site, water efficiency, energy efficiency, green materials and indoor environmental quality.

Most striking is the fact that Stratus does not burn any fossil fuels for heating or cooling. Instead, 24 geothermal wells pump warm air from about 70 metres beneath the Earth's surface to keep the building a comfortable temperature year-round. Each room - including the all-important wine vats - can be individually controlled.

Photo courtesy of Stratus Vineyards
Stratus Vineyards will see lower energy costs as its building does not use fossil fuels for heating or cooling during winemaking.

"The whole system has worked flawlessly," says Charles Baker, the winery's director of marketing and sales.

Plenty of windows have eliminated the need for electrical lights during the day and the building itself, designed by architect Les Andrew, incorporates reclaimed wood and steel, locally sourced materials and insulation made from recycled materials. Galvanized steel is used extensively to reduce the need for paint.

Nor, says Baker, have they ignored little things: Bicycle racks and showers to encourage staff and visitors to cycle, a super-insulated roof, environmentally friendly cleaning products and low-emission carpets.

There is also an extensive recycling program.

"I've never encountered so many bins in my office. There's a bin for everything," Baker says.

While the environmentally friendly design added roughly 10 to 15 per cent to the total cost of the building, Baker says, lower energy costs are the reward.

And Stratus is not the only Niagara winery to see the green light.

Flat Rock Cellars, established in 1999, boasts a state-of-the-art wetland designed to treat the highly acidic wastewater that winemaking creates. The 15x30-metre system went far beyond Ministry of the Environment requirements, says Flat Rock president Ed Madronich.

Flat Rock also has a geothermal heating/cooling system - the first winery in Ontario to install one. Rather than drilling wells deep into the ground, however, the winery chose to run five kilometres of glycol-filled pipes through a pond outside the building because it is a more efficient approach, Madronich says.

Both wineries have gravity-feed winemaking systems. Once the grapes are loaded into the top, the force of gravity takes over, avoiding the need for energy-consuming pumps. It also results in better wine, because the fragile fruit isn't bruised by mechanical pumping.

Once the wine is barrelled, underground cellars keep it a steady 10 to 12°C year-round without expensive air conditioning.

Stratus and Flat Rock also take a green approach to growing grapes, keeping pesticides to a minimum through hand hoeing and hand weeding, along with careful monitoring.

Madronich says there are two reasons for his environmentally friendly approach.

One is just good business sense, because in the long run, he needs to preserve the winery's soil and environment to produce a great wine.

The other is his four-year-old daughter.

"I don't want her inheriting a poisoned piece of land that doesn't grow very good grapes," he says.

An environmental charter being developed by the Wine Council of Ontario may help other wineries follow the examples set by Flat Rock and Stratus.

The charter, which should be finalized over the next two months, will provide winemakers with tools for monitoring and tracking environmental performance, and help them establish systems for preventing pollution.

It draws on best practices from wine-growing regions around the world, as well as input from government, environmental agencies and local wineries.

Winery owners have been supportive, recognizing their role as responsible stewards of the land, says Sherri Haigh, the council's director of public affairs.

She adds that they also have a personal stake in going green.

"They live here," Haigh says. "These are their homes, this is their neighbourhood - it's in their best interest to support it."

The bottom line, though, is making good wine.

"We're pushing quality standards, we're pushing design standards, we're pushing every envelope we can to make really top-end wine, to make the best possible wine we can," says Baker.

Both wineries are operating in a highly competitive environment.

The 1990s saw an explosion of new wineries in Ontario, to the current total of more than 90 from only 18 in 1989. Retail sales totalled about $400 million in 2002-2003.

Since it is difficult for most small operators to get their product on LCBO shelves, marketing and distribution are a challenge. A green profile does not hurt when it comes to attracting attention.

Neither winemaker sees other Ontario wineries as competition, however.

"We're now a premium wine region and every addition to the wine route, such as Stratus, just basically pushes that to the next level," Baker says. "The industry doesn't exist with one winery."

The concentration of wineries in Niagara has turned wine tourism into a booming business, attracting more than one million visitors last year, Haigh says.

"I think we should be looking at Australia and France and Italy as our competitors, and we should be growing the Ontario pie," Madronich says.

Madronich says 95 per cent of the wine consumed in France is French wine, while even in a relatively small wine region such as Washington state, 85 per cent of the wine consumed is local.

Only 40 per cent of the wine Ontarians drink is produced in this province.

"If we grow the Ontario pie, every winery here can be successful," he says.

And sustainable as well, Haigh notes.

"They've really taken this to a new level. That is the future of the wine business."

(Julie Stauffer can be reached at stauffer@businessedge.ca)