It started with an epiphany in Burgundy.
Two books, a newsletter, a shelf of favourite wines and a standing argument: that wine is agriculture, and that the person holding the glass is the fastest way to change it.
Sustainable Business International LLC
Consulting since 2009
The practice
Sustainable Business International.
A consultancy assisting clients at every stage of environmental sustainability, ESG risk management and corporate social responsibility — primarily in food and beverage.
The work began in coffee. Setting standards for sustainable agriculture across a global supply chain, and applying the triple-bottom-line approach to business strategy, turned out to transfer almost intact to wine — an industry with the same exposure to climate, the same dependence on farm labour, and far less scrutiny.
Clients come in three kinds. Retailers who need to categorise sustainable wines and have confidence in the certifications behind them. Wineries and producers integrating sustainability into their operations, marketing it without overclaiming, and writing the report that proves it. And associations and conferences who need someone who can make the business case in front of a room.
Good grapes make good wine; the reverse has never worked
“Any viticulturist will tell you that you cannot make good wine from bad grapes. You can make bad wine from good grapes, but not the other way around. I firmly believe that sustainably grown grapes lead to better quality, better tasting wine.”
Sandra E. Taylor
The founder
A diplomat, a wine epiphany, and thirty years of supply chains.
Sandra E. Taylor
Founder · CEO, Sustainable Business International
As a young US diplomat working in Switzerland, Sandra Taylor had her wine epiphany visiting wineries in the nearby Burgundy region of France. She was not, at the time, especially educated about wine beyond what was poured at diplomatic dinners, and she went with European colleagues who were.
Since then her travels and studies have taken in the geography, geology, landscapes, grapes and tastes of France, Italy, Australia, South Africa, Argentina and the wine regions of the western United States. Wine became the hobby, and then the subject.
“My first discovery was the warm welcome we received from the owners of small vineyards as we toured. Each day ended with a delicious dinner, starting with champagne as an aperitif and a different wine with each course — often older vintages of the wines we had tasted through the day. They tasted so differently with the food!”
- Sustainable Business International
- Founder and CEO. Environmental sustainability, ESG risk management and corporate social responsibility, primarily across food and beverage.
- Starbucks Coffee Company
- Senior executive in Seattle, leading global corporate responsibility and sustainability across the coffee and cocoa supply chains.
- Eastman Kodak Company
- Global public affairs and corporate citizenship.
- French Wine Scholar · Wine MBA
- Completed the French Wine Scholar course in 2010; a graduate of the Wine MBA programme at The Bordeaux School of Management / Kedge Business School in France.
- Wine Review Online · The Magnum Club
- Formerly a columnist with Wine Review Online, and a member of the Magnum Club — a global organisation of women wine producers, sommeliers, writers and critics.
- The Green Medal
- Has been a judge of the Green Medal competition, which recognises sustainable leadership in California winegrowing.
- LIVE Certified
- A member of the board of LIVE, the sustainability certification for Pacific Northwest vineyards and wineries, for several years, and now its chair.
- The Sustainable Vine · Sustainability Talks
- Sandra's two Substacks, where she now writes.
“I have often fallen in love with the tantalizing mix of culture and cuisine — the food, the wine, coffee, tea and the people who prepare these — that are integral to a country's identity.”
For the trade
How we work with the trade.
Retailers, producers and wine associations bring us in when sustainability has to survive a customer's question.
Consulting
For retailers: how to categorise sustainable wines and have confidence in their certifications and authenticity. For wineries and producers: integrating sustainability into operations, marketing it honestly, building a diversity plan and strategy, and designing and writing the sustainability report.
Training & workshops
Training wine store staff on how sustainable wines are produced, the language of sustainability, and how to describe them to customers without overclaiming. Workshops for wine associations and companies on the business case for adopting sustainable practices, social responsibility and diversity.
Speaking engagements
A keynote speaker since 2009 for large conventions, industry associations and management conferences, now represented by Weaving Influence. Also available for annual wine industry conferences, regional wine events and academic conferences.
- Diversity in the wine industry
- Women in wine
- How the wine industry can capture the attention of Millennials and Generation X
- Why sustainability matters to the wine consumer
- Sustainability in the wine industry … who cares?
Guided tastings
For corporate and fund-raising events. Open a board dinner with a guided tasting rather than the usual cocktail hour, or pair each course with a wine and the reason it belongs there — the geography, the geology, the cuisine, the farming and the climate, in the glass.
Wine education
Tailor-made classes for enthusiasts who want to identify and express their own tastes. Courses are organised either around a grape across regions or around a single region in depth, and cover grape varieties, origin and geography, the wine regions themselves, and growing, harvesting and sustainability.
Who we are
The team.
Jess Canose
Food systems research
A food systems researcher and consultant, and a photographer and graphic designer for several food businesses in Pittsburgh. Her work has run from coordinating CSA programmes and food rescues to facilitating conferences and farming around the East Coast. She holds an M.A. in Food Studies from Chatham University, has spent years researching and publishing on food waste, and is developing the compendium of sustainable wines this site is built on.
Dean DeCrease
Sustainable packaging
Dean is a specialist in sustainable packaging, drawn from many years in the paper and packaging industry. As a Technology Director at Weyerhaeuser Company he designed and led its first global sustainability office in Geneva, Switzerland, and represented the North American forest industry on the WWF 95+ Group, which developed the implementation standards for Forest Stewardship Council certification. He brings that background to our work on sustainable packaging with the wine industry. A committed foodie, he enjoys pairing wines from around the world with beautifully crafted natural foods.
In the press
Coverage and conversation.
- SmartBriefDriven by consumers and climate change, sustainability grows in the global wine industry
- Oddball GrapeSustainable wine with Sandra Taylor
- Biz JournalsAsk the experts: why sustainability is everything
- AlternetTop 6 wine apps Millennials love
- McClatchy DCOn sustainability in the wine trade
- The Sacramento BeeThe same report, in the paper of record for California wine
- Green MedalSandra Taylor judges the Green Medal competition
- LIVE CertifiedSandra Taylor chairs the board
- Wine Review OnlineSandra's columns, archived
On film
Sustainability in wine … who cares?
A talk on why the industry's environmental record matters to the person holding the glass.
The work starts in the vineyard and ends at the shelf
Work with us.
Retailers, producers and associations bring us in when sustainability has to survive a customer's question. Tell us what you are up against.