Monte Creek Winery for Corporate Social Responsibility
Get to know one of the best sustainable wineries in the Thompson-Nicola Valley and how you can support them
At Monte Creek Winery, the idea of becoming one of the most sustainable organizations within the Thompson-Nicola Valley holds a strong place in Monte Creeks heart. Monte Creek upholds its goal to work alongside or with the land instead of simply on it and they make this evident through their very defined core values; quality, innovation, and of course, naturally (no pun intended) sustainable. They uphold all these values and qualities while still creating exceptional and award-winning wines and creating an outstanding atmosphere through their service and presentation during interactions with the community and consumers.
Since opening in 2015 they have been awarded time and time again and strive to continue to keep giving back to the community while using these awards. Through their biosphere program and/or system they are sustainability trained with GreenStep, Salmon-Safe Certified, an OceanWise Partner, and have made a pledge to the 7 Affirmations pledge society.
While upholding so many Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives the winery embraces natural methods to maintain and produce their award-winning grapes and wines. For example, they are using gravity flow production, through their naturally cooling production building made of concrete with different levels to force the natural flow of wine and reduce the use of pumps.
One of the winemakers at Monte Creek, Galen Barnhardt, comments during an interview on just how far their CSR strides have taken them; “We’ve made some good strides towards our goal of reducing our per case energy consumption by 25% by 2025. We know we’ve still got a long way to go, but we just keep chipping away at it” (Barnhardt, 2023). Yes, this statement was made in 2023, but the winery has now become certified organic and sustainable, so I’d say they reached their goal.
While utilizing their CSR initiatives Monte Creek Winery still makes sure it is a memorable and bucket list destination for families and couples. During the winter they host multiple Christmas fundraisers and fairs as well as summer fundraiser events for programs like the SPCA. But something Monte Creek is just as well known for as their sustainability initiatives, is their weddings. The winery hosts multiple weddings a year and is sometimes totally booked for the following year to come, thanks to their excluded area and captivating scenery, couples from all over BC come to Monte Creek Winery to host their ceremony and/or wedding party in either the vineyards, their large glass greenhouse, or on their terrace patio that overlooks the valley.
Through and through Monte Creek will never fail to drop a jaw, how much better can a winery that offers some of the most amazing views, creative events and memorable weddings while all being so sustainable get. As a previous employee of Monte Creek Winery, I am one hundred percent able to vouch for this statement. As a workplace setting the employees of Monte Creek were always to be made extremely knowledgeable on the wineries efforts so we can better teach and explain to our customers why they should continue dining with us. All staff were extremely helpful and welcoming to anyone who came into the restaurant and tasting room, wine drinkers or not. Monte Creek truly made all workers feel apricated and admired for their hard work and offered plenty of opportunities for said employees to expand on their interest in any sustainable wine making and were invited to help bottle and learn more within the production facility.
At Monte Creek Winery, sustainability isn’t just about winning awards and becoming bigger and better, but it’s about leaving the land that we use for production a better place than we found it. By choosing wines that promote CSR you are actively contributing to the sustainability of our planet, and I’d say that’s something to raise a glass to!