THE VINEWISE GUIDE
The Vinewise Guide is a series of three self-assessment forms for business and viticulture management practices, to allow growers and vintners to assess themselves against industry standards of sustainability, to find out where their current practices rate on the scale of sustainability:

1. Checklists
2. Self-Evaluation Forms
3. Action Plan (coming soon) 

Currently, Vinewise includes 16 topics, but will cover additional topics as needs are identifed by the industry.  

Vinewise Checklists
The Checklists, created by the original Washington Wine Industry Foundation USDA grant, provide growers with a list of questions to consider when making business and viticulture decisions. 

The questions are issues or subjects to think about during the decision-making process, such as:

“Who are my customers?” (Marketing Plans)

"Do I understand the relationship between plant vigor and pests?” (Pest Management)

By answering the questions on the Checklists, growers understand the types of issues or knowledge they must consider before moving their business forward.

Go to the Checklists 

Vinewise Self-Assessment Evaluation Forms
The evaluation forms are simple, interactive forms with a scale of practices categorized by the level of sustainability, with Category 4 practices most sustainable, and Category 1 practices non-sustainable.

At the end of the evaluation process, growers will receive a print out of their assessment, with lists of resources and tools for them to use to to enable them to become as sustainable as possible within the confines of their particular vineyard and business plan.

For example:

Topic:           PEST MANAGEMENT
Sub Topic:   INSECTS AND ARTHROPODS
Subject:      CLEAN MATERIAL
Growers can inadvertently import non-native insect pests if unclean planting material is used. Phylloxera and the vine mealybug are examples of non-native pests that could become established in Washington State vineyards if field-grown rooted vines from other grape growing regions are imported without inspection.

m	CATEGORY 4
	Used certified plant material Identified disease status of material regarding non-quarantine and non-certified pests (e.g. crown gall). Complied with state quarantine regulations. Followed treatments designed to eliminate pests, if necessary.
m	CATEGORY 3
	Followed quarantine regulations if imported from quarantine area. Used non-certified vines from thoroughly tested blocks after exhausting certified sources.
m	CATEGORY 2
	Used on-farm, self propagated material. Visually inspected blocks with good production/disease history. Complied with state quarantine regulations if applicable.
m	CATEGORY 1
	Used uncertified plant material from quarantined areas outside of state or self propagated rooted cuttings from unknown, unclean material. Ignored quarantine laws if material is imported into the state.

 Resources
Review Washington State quarantine regulations at www.fruit.wsu.edu/grapeweb/foundation.htm

Go to the Self-Evaluation Forms

Action Plans
Once the grower's or vintner's current business and viticulture practices are evaluated, the next step is to formulate an Action Plan to improve sustainability, if needed. 

Any task is easier when broken down into smaller steps, and changing business or viticulture practices is no exception. The Action Plan form, by topic, allows growers to create a list of actionable steps to improve their sustainability rating.

After the Action Plan is completed, the grower can re-evaluate his practices to determine if his plan improved his sustainability rating.