McLaren Vale wine growers have spoken out after a paragraph in an auditor’s report on sustainability practices has disappeared.
The Winemakers Federation of Australia president Tony D’Aloisio told The Australian that WFA was investigating the matter and “assessing whether we should get it done independently”.
Winemakers Federation chief executive Paul Evans confirmed that a paragraph in an auditor’s report comparing the McLaren Vale environmental assurance program with WFA’s own scheme had been deleted.
McLaren Vale association chief executive Marc Allgrove discovered that the paragraph had been deleted from the summary page at some point between arriving at WFA’s office and being forwarded to him.
On 10 September, McLaren Vale’s Sustainable Australia Winegrowing programme became the second programme to be accredited to Entwine following a WFA boardmeeting.
“Entwine is an important national voluntary program that enables winemakers and winegrape growers to meet international standards including ISO 14001,” Evans said.
“Having an Entwine membership can be important in business dealings with retailers, restaurants and consumers around the world.
“Such accreditation recognises their environmental practices and can also be important planks in their business endeavours as well as in the region’s marketing, both at home in Australia and overseas.”