French wine group Delaunay Vins & Domaines has secured B Corp certification, joining a small group of wine businesses recognised for meeting standards covering social and environmental impact, governance and corporate accountability.
The certification covers all 12 of the family-owned group’s brands and estates, making it one of 24 companies in the French wine industry to have achieved B Corp status, Delaunay said.
Unlike sustainability certifications focused primarily on environmental performance, B Corp assesses a company’s impact across five areas: governance, workers, community, environment and customers. For wineries, the certification offers independent validation of their sustainability practices, potentially strengthening brand credibility, consumer trust and their ability to attract talent.
Delaunay Vins & Domaines is rooted in Burgundy and the Languedoc. According to its website, the family’s wine business dates to 1893, when Maison Edouard Delaunay was founded. The group itself was established in 1995 and adopted its current name in 2023.
The company generated about €60 million in revenue in 2025 and employs 81 people across six sites.
Its Les Jamelles brand has long been available in Hong Kong, where it is represented by local wine importer Links Concept. In mainland China, its Burgundy brand Edouard Delaunay is distributed by prominent wine importer CWS.
Laurent, Catherine and Jeanne Delaunay described the certification as an important milestone for the family business – one that recognises its sustainability efforts to date while setting the stage for further improvement.
“B Corp acknowledges the progress we have made and commits us to keep going – measuring our advancements, questioning our practices, and evolving our model without losing what makes us strong,” they said.
“This is how we intend to grow our business: with rigour and ethics, owning our choices and their impacts, and remaining true to our convictions over the long term.”
B Corp certification is administered by B Lab, a US-based nonprofit organisation. To qualify, companies must complete the B Impact Assessment and meet standards designed to measure their overall social and environmental impact.
For Delaunay, the certification is the latest milestone in its “STEP” sustainability strategy rather than a standalone achievement.
Developed under the leadership of Jeanne Delaunay, STEP stands for Society, Team, Excellence and Planet. It seeks to embed social responsibility, employee development, product innovation and environmental protection into the group’s daily operations.
The company has adopted STEP as its corporate social responsibility roadmap, with initiatives spanning responsible sourcing, employee training, agroecology and environmentally conscious product design.
Delaunay said 87.3% of the grapes, grape must and bulk wine it purchased in 2025 was certified organic or carried France’s High Environmental Value, or HEV, certification—a sharp increase from 16.8% in 2023.
It also reduced glass consumption by 5.3% over the past two years, bringing the average weight of its bottles down to 450.8 grams in 2025.
For its Les Jamelles range, Delaunay reduced bottle weight from 500 grams to 420 grams. The change is expected to save about 176 tonnes of glass and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 57.5 tonnes annually.
The company completed a groupwide carbon footprint assessment in 2026 and installed solar panels at its Nuits-Saint-Georges site.
Delaunay employees completed a combined 574 hours of training in 2025, while 14 staff members held workplace first-aid certification.
That year, Edouard Delaunay and Abbotts & Delaunay received 162 and 46 awards, respectively. Noncompliant products accounted for just 0.03% of the wine the company placed on the market.
The group has also launched Spritz Citron & Basilic, a preservative-free drink made with French wine, water, grape juice, lemon juice and natural flavourings. The product is vegan and gluten-free.
Compared with a classic Spritz, it contains about 60% less sugar, half the calories and 40% less alcohol, according to the company, positioning it to meet consumer demand for lighter, more approachable alcoholic drinks.
According to B Lab, the median score among companies completing the assessment is 50.9. Delaunay’s score of 88.1 was well above both that benchmark and the 80-point threshold required for certification.
The group said the score was not the endpoint of its sustainability work. It plans to continue measuring its impact, reviewing its business practices and adapting its operating model.
Discover more from Vino Joy News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
