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Chêne Bleu becomes first wine estate to gain Butterfly Mark

Chêne Bleu in France’s Ventoux region has become the first wine estate to receive the Butterfly Mark for its commitment to sustainable practices.

Announced yesterday, the winery is the first property to achieve the trust mark, although the Canned Wine Co is on the accelerator programme that supports the certification process, with an aim to gain the Butterfly Mark in a year’s time.

The Butterfly Mark is only awarded to brands and businesses that have a commitment to sustainability in all areas of their operations, and follows a “rigorous” evaluation process, which covers the three principles of Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG).

According to Chêne Bleu, the wine estate worked on achieving the Butterfly Mark certification for over a year, and managed to double its initial score by integrating measurable environmental practices in all of its social and commercial activities.

Its resulting score of 60 is 20% above the certification standard, according to Positive Luxury, the organisation behind the Butterfly Mark.

Other drinks brands with the certification are Aspen Distillers, Belvedere Vodka, Canned Wine Co, Clase Azul Mexico, Courvoisier, Eight Lands, Matusalem Rum, Suave Tequila, The Folclore Company, The Glenturret, The Macallan and West Cork Distillers.

Other luxury brands that have received the Butterfly brand include Dior Couture, MCM, Tom Ford Beauty, Mirén Paris, Anya Hindmarch, Stephen Webster and La Perla Beauty.

Commenting Chêne Bleu’s achievement, Amy Nelson-Bennett, who is co-CEO of Positive Luxury, described the winery as “a pioneer in regenerative viticulture,” while commenting that it “advocates and sets higher standards for sustainable practices within the industry of wine”, while also taking “positive measures to preserve the natural environment in a spirit of cooperation.”

Nicole Rolet, who is co-founder and principal of Chêne Bleu explained her reasons for seeking the certification.

“My husband Xavier was passionate about environmental conservation for most of his life, well before Sustainability and Regenerative Agriculture were fashionable hashtags. But when we wanted to assess our work and apply for certification, we discovered that there was no road map, no guidance, and most of the existing checklists were not well adapted to viticulture and winemaking, Our experience with Positive Luxury has been the opposite: the process is tailored-made to understand our ethos and our operations. Our advisors have been able to share best practices and save us lots of time, effort and mistakes. Also, on a human level, we have found them to be such a class act. Diana Verde Nieto is a truly inspirational human being, a thought leader on the global Climate stage, and is surrounded by a terrific team of passionate people. This has made the process very worthwhile”.

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