Sustainable Practices

Sustainably Farmed Vineyards

In 2010, our sustainable vineyard practices were officially certified by the California Sustainable Winegrower’s Alliance, a statewide certification program that provides third-party verification of a winery or vineyard’s adherence to a "process of continuous improvement" in the adoption and implementation of sustainable winegrowing practices. Sustainable farming means that we engage in practices that meet the wine-growing needs of the present without threatening the ability of future generations to meet their needs. It differs from organic and biodynamic farming in several ways, most importantly in that it requires continuous improvement versus simply meeting certain standards, and is independently reviewed on an annual basis.

Carbon Neutral Winery & Vineyards

By continually reducing our carbon footprint and purchasing carbon credits in two methane recapture plants and a wind farm, we’ve neutralized our winery and vineyards’ carbon impact on the planet. Wine starts in the vineyard, which is where we started reducing our greenhouse gases by choosing sustainable farming. We are also certified as Fish Friendly Farmers in all of our vineyards and we’ve turned the roof of our barrel building into a solar power plant.

Solar Power-Producing Winery

Our barrel building does more than just keep our barrels cool! The roof is covered with enough solar panels to reduce our electricity needs by about 35%, and in turn greatly reduce the environmental impact that would otherwise occur from commercial power production. The solar project is just one part of our ongoing effort to be an environmentally responsible business within our community. We are always striving to improve our strategies to conserve energy, water, materials and other resources, along with our practices to prevent pollution and waste. We believe it’s important to do our part for our community today, and for generations to come.