BRIT and FIVS Partner to Expand International Sustainable Winegrowing Competition and Award

The Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) is excited to announce a new partnership with Paris-based FIVS, a global organization designed to serve the wine, spirits, and beer sectors, to broaden and expand BRIT's unique international sustainable winegrowing competition and award.

Originally created in 2010, BRIT's award honors wine organizations that take a leading role in implementing sustainable practices. It is the only international sustainable winegrowing competition and award of its kind. The first FIVS/BRIT co-branded international competition is scheduled for 2020.

Under the terms of the agreement, FIVS will co-manage the competition and support and promote the competition throughout its global membership of regional wine associations, wine producers and distributors. For its part, BRIT through its application and review process, agrees to comply with FIVS's "Global Wine Producers Environmental Sustainability Principles (GWPESP)" program, which promotes the idea that the continued health of the wine industry relies on natural resources that are successfully integrated with sound ecological processes.

In addition, the competition and award name will also be changed to reflect FIVS's expanded role. The new name of the competition is BRIT/FIVS International Sustainable Winegrowing Competition and the award will be known as the BRIT/FIVS International Sustainable Winegrowing Award.

"BRIT has been a member of FIVS since 2012, providing us with unparalleled access to leading wine organizations around the world. That, in turn, has helped raise awareness of our competition and BRIT's mission of biodiversity and conservation," says Dr. Ed Schneider, President and Executive Director, BRIT. "Co-branding our sustainable winegrowing competition with such a highly respected wine industry advocate will help further both organization's goals of sustainability and biodiversity. We're honored to be partnering with FIVS."

"The new, BRIT/FIVS international sustainable winegrowing competition is the perfect platform to highlight FIVS's 'Global Wine Producers Environmental Sustainability Principles'," says Greg Hodson, President, FIVS. "We look forward to honoring wineries and vineyards that are taking a leading role in sustainability."

FIVS will create a competition committee to oversee the program including managing competition growth, competition rules, applications, judging, and program communication. FIVS members will take an active role in promoting the competition in their respective regional organizations. The presidents of both FIVS and BRIT will have final authority over the creation of the relationship structure, responsibilities, program policies, procedures, competition rules, fees/costs, and future modifications of each.

The first BRIT/FIVS co-branded competition is scheduled for 2020. The competition begins May 1, 2019 and has a submission deadline of September 30, 2019. The winners will be selected and notified in November 2020. The competition's overall winner will be presented with the BRIT/FIVS International Sustainable Winegrowing glass sculpture in Fort Worth in January 2020. Platinum, gold, silver, and bronze-level medals are awarded to top-placing wineries.

The competition is open to any vineyard/winery involved with a sustainable winegrowing program from any country; it is also open to multi-brand wine companies that may apply for special recognition.