IMPLEMENTING SUSTAINABILITY IN WINERIES: ISSUES FROM AN ITALIAN CASE STUDY

This paper aims to investigate sustainability issues in wineries by analysing the drivers that suggest the consideration of this concept in the day-to-day activities and main barriers to the process of improving sustainable practices in the winery sector. A literature review on the topic and a qualitative, in-depth explorative case study are presented. The choice of the case, Ripasso, was driven by its nature as a cooperative winery and its participation in Magis, an Italian project on sustainability. The article presents levers and problems to consider in the introduction of a protocol that aims to improve the quality of the grapes harvested and environmental biodiversity, reducing impacts of the production in terms of several aspects, such as water consumption and fertilizer use. A future research agenda is outlined, based on the literature gap and the main points provided by this study.