Wine Institute of California was given the 2014 Amorim Sustainability Award for a generic organization by The Drinks Business, a London-based industry trade publication. Wine Institute established the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA) with the California Association of Winegrape Growers more than a decade ago to promote wide adoption of sustainability practices in the state. In addition to helping implement the breadth and depth of the CSWA program, Wine Institute has initiated several sustainability projects recently including: publication of a hard cover book, Down to Earth: A Seasonal Tour of Sustainable Winegrowing in California, the launch of “Down to Earth,” an annual month-long celebration of green-themed winery events throughout California in April, a new consumer green tour video, an educational sustainability website section atdiscovercaliforniawines.com, publication of a sustainable water management handbook for small wineries, and a Life Cycle Assessment report and tool for California wine to reduce the carbon footprint of wine.

"We're so honored to have our program receive international recognition by The Drinks Business for the second consecutive year," said Allison Jordan, executive director of CSWA. "Our California wine community has a deep commitment to responsible business and environmental practices. The vintners and growers involved in the program represent more than 70 percent of California’s wine production and winegrape acreage. With California as the fourth leading wine producer in the world making 90 percent of U.S. wine, the scale of the program is huge with credit belonging to thousands of grower and vintner participants who have embraced sustainability with such passion."

The California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in 2003 and headquartered in San Francisco. CSWA's mission is to ensure that the California wine community is recognized globally as the leader in sustainable winegrowing in the marketplace and public policy arena through the development and promotion of sustainable practices, tools for education and outreach, partnerships with key stakeholders, and prioritizing research. To date, CSWA has held 250 workshops on sustainable practices attended by 11,000 participants.