Our vision is to create a strong and vibrant community within the English and Welsh wine industry that actively promotes sustainability through information sharing and a certification scheme that is inclusive, effective and well-respected by our customers.

Official Certification

WineGB recognises that our industry has a shared responsibility to minimise our impact on the environment and maximise our contribution to environmental conservation and biodiversity. The Sustainable Wines of Great Britain (SWGB) Scheme was established in 2020 to bring authority, assurance and credibility to the way in which sustainability is measured and observed in the wine industry of Great Britain.

Wine producers can gain SWGB certification for their vineyards, wineries and wines by following the SWGB Scheme guidelines and successfully completing an independent audit every three years.

Groundbreaking Technology

SWGB has several innovative tools to assist members with this process including the WineGB Carbon Calculator and the SWGB Data Hub. The Carbon Calculator enables members to calculate the number of tonnes of CO₂ generated per hectare of vineyard and/or per bottle of wine produced. The SWGB Data Hub is a secure online portal that stores members’ audit information and benchmarks data so that performance evaluations can be conducted quickly and easily.

SWGB has also partnered with Ecoclimasol, a digital climate risk management company based in Montpellier (France), to launch an English version of its toxicity risk assessment platform called Dephyto. This online facility calculates the health and environmental risk of chemicals that are used in the vineyard, allowing members of SWGB to make more sustainable and informed choices. SWGB is the first sustainable wine scheme in the world to use this technology.

Trade Mark

Once a vineyard and/or winery joins Sustainable Wines of Great Britain, it has the right to use the SWGB Trade Mark, but the Trade Mark may only be used on bottle labels if the wine is made in a SWGB-certified winery from fruit grown in a SWGB-certified vineyard. The Trade Mark serves as a trusted and reliable indicator that a wine is made using sustainable practices.

In 2023, Sustainable Wines of Great Britain introduced a new gold level award, allowing those producers who renew their certification after a second or subsequent audit to display the gold SWGB trade mark on their bottle labels.

Certified Wines

In 2020, Sustainable Wines of Great Britain announced its first scheme-certified wineries and vineyards. A year later, the first SWGB-certified wines were released.

Since then, the number of wines carrying the SWGB Trade Mark continues to grow.

Communication

To assist all WineGB members in their journey towards being as sustainable as possible, SWGB publishes bulletins and hosts regular workshops concentrating on key elements within the scheme. These bulletins contain information and guidance from experts on the subject, the latest research and established practices, as well as advice and examples of good practice from fellow members. The workshops allow members to come together to network, knowledge-share and help to develop sustainable best practice in particular aspects of wine production. SWGB also publishes a monthly newsletter, updating all WineGB members on developments within the scheme and the latest news in sustainable wine production from around the world.

More Information

To find out more about the SWGB Scheme, please read the Rule Book here.

A list of SWGB-certified vineyards and wineries can be found here here.

To view information about the Birds in UK Vineyards project, click here.