Australian Vintage has taken home the 2025 Best Environmental Sustainability Initiative at the Australian Drinks Awards. The award was recognition of the Nepenthe Elevation Vine to Glass initiative.
A value chain approach to sustainability
The launch of the Nepenthe Elevation range – crafted from grapes sourced exclusively from Sustainable Winegrowing Australia-certified vineyards – reflects a comprehensive, value chain approach to sustainability. From vineyard to bottle, the project delivers measurable environmental impact without compromising on quality or consumer experience.
At the heart of the initiative is innovation. Australian Vintage became the first in the commercial wine space to adopt tearaway aluminium bottle caps designed to separate easily from glass for improved recyclability. These new closures were introduced as part of the attention-grabbing Naked in the Vines campaign – an engaging digital PR strategy aimed at demystifying sustainable wine packaging for consumers. The campaign reached more than 11 million Australians across digital and media platforms, putting the spotlight on sustainability and responsible recycling in a playful way.
The brand’s commitment to sustainability goes far beyond packaging. The range features lighter-weight bottles, fully recyclable materials and front-of-pack Trustmarks that clearly communicate environmental credentials. Partnering with Coles Liquor on this launch, the collaboration aligned sustainability goals across the value chain, from growers and suppliers to retailers and end consumers.
Penelope Goodsall, Head of ESG and Communications at Australian Vintage, said, “We are thrilled to receive the 2025 Best Environmental Sustainability Initiative at the Australian Drinks Awards in such a competitive field. Embedding sustainability across our business is core to our strategy and this achievement is only possible through the innovation and collaboration between our teams, partners and suppliers, to bring that commitment to life and drive value for all stakeholders.”
Innovation into impact
The results speak for themselves: 3000+ distribution points, 92% certified grape intake and a campaign that connected with consumers on sustainability, trust and transparency. Even more significantly, Australian Vintage is now rolling out the tearaway cap innovation across all Australian Vintage commercial brands amplifying its impact across the wider wine industry.
Judges highlighted several standout elements of the submission, including the:
- strong foundational credibility through B Corp certification and a high proportion of certified sustainable growers.
- innovative approach to packaging, with the first-to-market tearaway cap.
- end-to-end sustainability focus, addressing impact across the full value chain, from growers to consumers.
- thoughtful collaboration with a major retailer, demonstrating strong stakeholder engagement and market relevance.
- emphasis on education and support throughout the supply chain, not just at the consumer end.
- potential for the initiative to scale and be applied across other brands and parts of the industry.
Endeavour Group sponsored the award and Dan Holland, Endeavour Group Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability was at the event to present the award, saying:
“Australian Vintage was recognised because they truly presented an end-to-end, all-encompassing strategy that took their B Corp certification and company-wide strategy through to a really impressive brand activation that went from customer and consumer education into retail partnership and product innovation.”
Continued success
In 2024, Australian Vintage received Highly Commended in the Best Sustainability Initiative Category in recognition of achieving B Corp Certification of its domestic operations and global brands. The brand also saw international success, winning Sustainable Wine Producer of the Year in the 2024 Global Drinks Intel ESG Awards in Cannes, France.
At the 2025 Australian Drinks Awards, Australian Vintage also claimed the coveted Supply Chain Management Award, having previously won back-to-back victories in 2021 and 2022. Supply chain is one of the sustainability focus areas reported by the brand in its 2024 Annual Report, which highlighted that the move to lightweight glass bottles has resulted in over 1.5 million kgs of weight removed from the supply chain since FY22.
Penelope Goodsall, accepted the Supply Chain Management Award on the night. She said:
“We've put a lot of hard work into our supply chain as a certified B Corp organisation. It's really important to us that we have a supply chain that is not only sustainable but also ethical and really runs well with all our stakeholders. Winning this award is a testimony to that.”
There was a total of 34 awards handed out at the 13th Annual Australian Drinks Awards, hosted by Edwina Bartholomew. The awards recognise achievement and excellence in the drinks industry, including three Contribution to Industry Awards: Best Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiative, Best Wellbeing Initiative, and Best Environmental Sustainability Initiative.
The Drinks Association congratulates its Category One Member, Australian Vintage, on winning the 2025 Best Sustainability Initiative Award.
The Drinks Association would like to thank its generous sponsors for this year’s event.