Vineyard & Winery
Certify your Vineyard or Winery today:
- Create an account
- Document your practices
- Share your sustainability with your customers
SIP Certified sustainable is a certification program providing third-party verification that your vineyard, winery, or both has adopted and implemented stringent sustainable winemaking and wine growing standards based on the best practices. You protect the people, the planet, and the environment, and also produce high-quality wines.
With us you can:
- Certify your vineyard, winery or both
- Complete the program as a self-assessment for free
Dates:
- Certification runs from December 1 through November 30.
- Participants implement and document the Standards to meet all requirements and at least 50% of the Management Enhancement points.
- Independent inspectors verify the Standards annually between March 15 and July 15 on a three-year cycle with complete records and onsite inspections in Cycle 1 and either offsite documentation or short documentation and onsite inspection in Cycles 2 and 3.
Costs
- Application (one time): $500 members / $1000 non-members of Vineyard Team
- Want to be a member? Sign up here.
- Inspection: $100 – $175/hour - paid directly to inspector (inspections range from 1 to 15 hours depending on the inspection type)
Vineyard Fees
| Certified Acres | ($/ac)* |
|---|---|
| 0 - 49 | $20.00 |
| 50-99 | $15.00 |
| 100 - 249 | $12.00 |
| 250 - 499 | $10.00 |
| 500 - 999 | $9.00 |
| 1,000 - 2,499 | $8.00 |
| 2,500 - 4,999 | $7.00 |
| 5,000 or more | $5.00 |
Winery Fees
| Crush Volume (gal) | Fee per Gallon* |
|---|---|
| 0 - 19,999 | $0.0300 |
| 20,000 - 39,999 | $0.0250 |
| 40,000 - 124,999 | $0.0200 |
| 125,000 - 199,999 | $0.0150 |
| 200,000 - 499,999 | $0.0100 |
| 500,000 - 999,999 | $0.0050 |
| 1,000,000 - 2,999,999 | $0.0025 |
| 3,000,000+ | $0.0020 |
*$500 minumum.
25% off winery fees with certified vineyard.
Getting Started - Steps to Get SIP Certified
Thank you for your dedication to sustainability in practice. SIP Certified was developed by Vineyard Team, a non-profit dedicated to sustainable winegrowing since 1994. It evolved from California’s first and award-winning sustainable vineyard farming self-assessment into a vineyard certification that launched in 2008. And because sustainability does not stop in the vineyard, our winery certification was piloted in 2016. We’re proud of the Sustainability In Practice guidelines we’ve developed, and hope the below steps help you get started with the program.
1. Where to Get Information for Your Sustainable Certification
Our sustainability Standards live here, so that’s the first place to start. Your whole team can get tips and tricks on how to share your commitment to sustainability by subscribing to the monthly SIP Certified e-newsletter. Additionally, look for biweekly Vineyard Team e-newsletter for program updates, technical articles, and educational tailgate meetings. We typically send out emails once or twice a month and more frequently when a deadline is approaching. You can find the most recent updates by going to sipcertified.org and clicking the The Latest and then Certification Announcements.
2. How to Document Standards Online
You will document the Standards online at https://app.sipcertified.org. Check out our YouTube video tutorials. All documentation must be completed for your inspection between March 15 and July 15.
To begin documentation:
- Log in at https://app.sipcertified.org
- Click "Get Started"
- Click the name of a Property
- Click a Chapter
- Click a Subchapter (left) >
- Answer questions/ Upload documentation
- Don’t forget to click "Save" at the bottom of the page.
3. Inspection Type
Start documenting the Standards now so you are ready for your inspection between March 15 and July 15. Contact an inspector from the accredited list to schedule your inspection.
You can find your inspection type by:
- Log in at https://app.sipcertified.org
- Click "Get Started"
- Look under the "Type" column
- Full = complete documentation and onsite inspection (answer all Standards in the database)
- D (Documentation) = renewal documentation offsite inspection (answer Standards marked “D” in the database)
- D+O (Documentation+Onsite) = renewal documentation and onsite inspection (answer Standards marked “D” and “D+O” in the database)
Properties randomly selected for a D+O inspection are shown in the database now. All other Cycle 2 and 3 properties (except for Cycle 2 and 3 renewals that received either a Documentation + Onsite or Impromptu in the past 6 years) are eligible for the Impromptu inspection. Impromptu properties will see “D” under their Type column in the database. The Impromptu inspection is just like a D+O except you will receive at least 48 hours’ notice that your inspector will come to the property for an onsite inspection. Because it is the same as a D+O, it is easy to prepare for. That is why even if you have a D inspection you will see questions marked both “D” and “D+O” in the database. Please review the Information Package for inspection details.
Feel free to contact me at beth@sipcertified.org with any questions and I look forward to working with you.