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 and/or winery has adopted and implemented stringent sustainable winemaking and wine growing standards based on the best practices. You protect people and the planet while producing 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 (Full) and either offsite documentation (D) or short documentation and onsite inspection (D+O) 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+ | $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 minimum.
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 Info Hub and then Member Tips.
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 and upload documentation
- Click "Save" (bottom)
3. Inspection Type
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. 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 whitney@vineyardteam.org with any questions and I look forward to working with you.