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Katherine Martine | Wine Business Monthly
Following its recognition for excellence in environmental work with the Green Medal Award, Domaine CHANDON California held an interactive, โRooted in Sustainabilityโ panel on April 11, discussing the wineryโs work with regenerative agriculture and kicking off its Earth Day weekend celebration.
The panel was held outside under a group of oak trees, reflecting the wineryโs 3:1 replanting policy for biodiversity restoration and oak plantings; since 2023, the winery has planted 1,500 oaks. Panelists included CHANDON Viticulturist Margarita Postoronca, Napa Green Executive Director Anna Brittain, Spottswoodeโs Global Sales and Environmental Manager Molly Sheppard and Janna Olson, founder and coach, Regenerative Vines Consulting.ย
CHANDON, part of the LVMH family of wines and luxury goods, has long been a proponent of sustainable and environmentally-friendly farming practices and has several related certifications, including Fish Friendly Farming and Napa Green Vineyard and Napa Green Winery certified, just to name a few.
In kicking off the panel, Postoronca asked audience members to raise their hand if theyโve thought about regenerative farming in the context of whatโs happening in the ground below their feet. Several people raised their hands.ย
โI do want to acknowledge that everybody here should really raise a glass to themselves because the latest study across the United States indicating how many of us even have heard the term regenerative agriculture was just released two weeks ago,โ Olson said. โAnd we are up from a whopping 4% of our population in 2023, to 6.8% right now, so you’re in a very unique percentile. And of course, we’re in Californiaโinnovation oriented.โ
While the average American may not be as familiar with regenerative farming concepts, more and more wineries in California and Napa are taking up regenerative ag practices as well as sustainable initiatives. According to Napa Green, 40% of California certified sustainable wineries are Napa County wineries. Additionally, when driving down Silverado Trail or Highway 29, one may notice the bevy of Napa Green Vineyard and Napa Green Winery-certified wineries. Other regions such as Paso Robles are also embracing regenerative farming with theย One Block Challengeย where vintners are encouraged to trial regenerative farming on one vineyard block (donโt miss the May issue of WineBusiness Monthly where โTrials & Troubleshootsโ feature author Bryan Avila provides details on the process and the results of the pilot One Block Challenge at Robert Hall Winery led by Caine Thompson of OโNeill Vintners & Distillers).ย
The Principles of Regenerative Ag
In a nutshell, the basic principles of regenerative farming practices include keeping soils covers with cover crops to retain moisture and prevent erosion, minimizing soil disturbance, maintaining living roots, maximizing plant diversity and integrating livestock to help with soil health and nutrients and weed control.
In other words, โIt’s about building a healthy ecosystem in our soils to feed the future and creating a system that works with nature, but not against it,โ Postoronca said.
Brittain likened building a healthy soil ecosystem to building a strong human immune system that can better defend against foreign invaders like diseases or other threats like extreme heat.
To improve soil health the winery has implemented composting, cover cropping and sheep grazing.
To bolster biodiversity, CHANDON has planted 8.9 hectares (around 21.99 acres) of green hedge throughout its vineyards, installed owl, bat and blue jay boxes to attract beneficial predators, established bee boxes to facilitate the pollination of wild flora, and planted oak trees throughout.ย
Conserving water is also a top priority for the winery with automated irrigation tech in use and real-time moisture monitoring on 257 vineyard acres as well as the use of drought-tolerant rootstocks. In addition, according to theย Green Medal Awards announcement published April 4, โover 80% of the water used in their vineyards is recycled, ensuring efficiency without compromising vine health.โ
In helping reduce its carbon emissions, the winery has achieved a 10% emissions reduction by developing lightweight glass for sparkling wine from 900g to 835g per bottle, a significant achievement considering how difficult it is to lightweight glass destined for bubbles programs when sturdier, heavier glass is typically necessary.
Theyโve also installed solar panels over the years, producing an average of 1,340 MWh per year, have switched to a fleet of electric tractors and company cars, and added charging stations.ย
Waste reduction has also been a goal and to help achieve that, CHANDON recycles its corks which find a second life as home insulation. Label webbing is recycled into new resources and a pallet sharing program ensures thatย shipping pallets are re-purposed instead of heading to landfill. Crown caps and bidules are also separated in order to be recycled, and kitchen waste is fed to the property chickens or composted for maximum use.ย
For all these comprehensive efforts, CHANDON received the Green Medalโs Environment Award, which is given to the vineyard or winery that best demonstrates excellence in environmental stewardship.
Spottswoode has also been a leader in sustainability and was also a Green Medal Award winner this year, getting recognized for its leadership in sustainability with the Leader Award. This honor is awarded to a winery/vineyard that excels in the three EโS of sustainability: Environmentally sound, socially Equitable and Economically viable practices.
During the panel, Postoronca asked Sheppard of Spottswoode what are some key practices that sheโs seen in the valley when it comes to sustainable and or regenerative farming.
She cited the use of animals and cover cropping.ย
โWe’re seeing it everywhere,โ she said. โYou’ll drive down 29 and see mustard, you’ll see flowers, you’ll see a lot of beautiful growth, and we’re starting to shift that paradigm of what beauty is. I think a lot of people historically might have thought of beauty asโฆ very manicured systems, and now it’s just this really beautiful acceptance of what nature looks like, and it’s not perfect. It should be a little messy and it should be a little overgrown, and that means beauty.โ
To learn more about regenerative viticulture, clickย here. To learn more about all the Green Medal winners, clickย here.
In the aforementioned Green Medal Awards announcement, Allison Jordan, executive director of the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, said of the Green Medal winners, โAs the California Green Medal enters its second decade, this yearโs winners exemplify leadership and innovation in sustainable winegrowing.โ
About Napa Green: The Napa Green 501c3 is a global leader in sustainable winegrowing, setting the highest bar for sustainability and climate action in the wine industry. Napa Green facilitates whole system soil to bottle certification for wineries and vineyards, and provides the expertise, boots-on-the-ground support, and resources to continually improve. Learn more atย https://napagreen.org/participating-members/.
Anna Brittain
Napa Green
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โญ๏ธ Steal this itinerary!
Cheers to Climate Smart Wines Month is back this July and we couldnโt be more excited!
We have built some truly fabulous and sustainable experiences which you can find on www.napagreen.org and this year we have included hotels as well!
Tag us in your posts when you visit our amazing Napa Green Certified wineries so we can share your Green adventures!
Team Green is thoroughly enjoying visiting a few of our Napa Green Certified wineries today! ๐ฑ
Pictured here are the STUNNING new Sky Lofts at @rutherfordhillwinery. We strongly recommend a visit, itโs spectacular!
Wondering what this sign hung outside of the winery that you work at means? Want to be able to talk more about what it means to be @napagreen certified??
Join the Napa Green Ambassador training at Clos du Val on Wednesday, June 25 from 9-11 am to learn the answers and more.
Tickets are free but space is limited so reserve your spot from the Workshops & Events link in our bio.
#climateaction #napagreen #napagreencertified #climatesmartwinery #regenerativeag #regenerativefarming
๐ Do you want to learn more about what it means to be a Napa Green Certified Vineyard or Winery?
๐ Do you have new team members who still arenโt sure what that Napa Green Certified sign hanging out front actually means?
๐ Are you curious about this term thatโs suddenly popping up everywhere โ regenerative?
๐ Want to know what exactly does it mean to be climate smart?
Join us Wednesday, June 25, 2025 @closduval to learn how to talk about being @napapagreen certified.
Use the event link in our bio to register.
#climateaction #wineindustry #wineindustryleadership #climatesmart #sustainablewine #sustainablewinery #regenerativevineyard #regenerativeag
๐ข Attn Wineries!! Today is last day to sign up for the Cheers to Climate Smart Wines this July!
Email winery@napagreen.org to sign up today!
Thank you all for making RISE Climate & Wine Symposium a success! We 70 powerful speakers and 650 guests across the six events, dozens of commitments to action, and a flood of positive, heartfelt feedback.
Letโs keep the momentum going!
๐ธ: @briana_marie
Congratulations to Napa Green Certified @cliffamily for winning the RISE Leadership Award for Supply Chain & Waste Management Excellence!
Clif Family attended our first conference & committed to reducing their bottle weight and waste. They set upon an inspiring journey to change their packaging based on their outdoors loving and mountaineering inspired founders. They were able to..
โข lighten the weight of a case of their wine by almost 8 lbs!
โข reduce their carbon output by 42 metric tons!
โข institute fully recyclable, bio based shippers that keep wine cool!
โข eliminate all foils!
โข eliminate all plastic & metal moving fully to renewable cork enclosures!
Their customers responded with absolute enthusiasm.
โThis story is not just about wine packaging or supply chain decisions. Itโs about how we do business. Itโs leading with values. Itโs about remembering that the best way to climb higher.. is to carry less.โ - Sarah Richmond, Clif Family Winery.
Take action this Earth Month with Napa Green. Our team of experts is ready to assist you in achieving your climate action goals for both your vineyard and winery, no matter where you are in your sustainability journey.
๐ฅ @robot_productions
#earthday #earthdayeveryday #earthmonth #climateaction #sustainabilty #climatesmart #regenerativeag
๐ดWednesday April, 23rd is the day NOT to miss lunch at @cliffamily!!
Come enjoy delicious food while supporting Napa Green! See you there.
Uniquely, Napa Green isnโt just a roadmap of leading practices. Napa Green provides an expert, boots-on-the-ground consulting team that develops:
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Regenerative Carbon Farm Plans (to enhance soil health, biodiversity, resilience, and carbon storage)
โ
Irrigation Distribution Uniformity Assessments (to maximize water efficiency)
โ
Integrated Resource Assessments (to reduce energy, water, waste and emissions in production)
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Action Plans for continuing improvement (tailored to the opportunities and goals of each vineyard or winery)
Additionally, we support soil sampling and analysis, provide resource assistance, run practical training and education workshops throughout the year, and provide valuable, hands-on guidance in meeting your climate action goals.
โ
Napa Green members implement over 120 best practices in both the Vineyard and Winery. This Earth Month, learn about 21 of them with โ21 Days, 21 Waysโ counting down to Earth Day.
๐ท @buddsocial
๐ @tressabores
#21days21ways #earthmonth #earthday #climateaction #regenerativevineyard #climatesmart #sustainablewine #regenerativeag #environmentalleadership #wineindustry #winebusiness
Napa Greenโs vineyard team is trained to develop regenerative, whole-farm Carbon Farm Plans (CFPs). These plans review all of the current beneficial practices that are increasing soil and ecosystem health and storing carbon, and identify additional opportunities to regenerate the soil and vineyard ecosystem and simultaneously maximize carbon capture in a given property. Each vineyardโs goal is to become carbon neutral (or negative) and increase the resilience of vineyards, businesses, and our community.
โ
Napa Green members implement over 120 best practices in both the Vineyard and Winery. This Earth Month, learn about 21 of them with โ21 Days, 21 Waysโ counting down to Earth Day.
๐ท @soilrainandhope
๐ @tressabores
#21days21ways #earthmonth #earthday #climateaction #regenerativevineyard #climatesmart #sustainablewine #regenerativeag #environmentalleadership #wineindustry #winebusiness
Clear pathways for employee advancement are essential for a thriving workforce and driving success. They boost retention, job satisfaction, productivity, and attract top talent. Napa Green Certified members develop pathways for growth, discussing career goals and progress with employees during reviews.
โ
Napa Green members implement over 120 best practices in both the Vineyard and Winery. This Earth Month, learn about 21 of them with โ21 Days, 21 Waysโ counting down to Earth Day.
๐ท @briana_marie
๐ @dominusestatewinery
#21days21ways #earthmonth #earthday #climateaction #regenerativevineyard #climatesmart #sustainablewine #regenerativeag #environmentalleadership #wineindustry #winebusiness
Forests are not only our largest terrestrial carbon sink, they are also home to 80% of the worldโs on-land diversity. We need healthy forests, which means a balanced density of native trees and plants. Healthy forests experience lower intensity fires with less tree mortality, meaning higher carbon retention and ecosystem function.
โ
Napa Green members implement over 120 best practices in both the Vineyard and Winery. This Earth Month, learn about 21 of them with โ21 Days, 21 Waysโ counting down to Earth Day.
๐ท @abrittain
๐ @seaveyvineyard
#21days21ways #earthmonth #earthday #climateaction #regenerativevineyard #climatesmart #sustainablewine #regenerativeag #environmentalleadership #wineindustry #winebusiness
Napa Green Certified Wineries benefit from an on-site Integrated Resource Assessment (IRA) led by our experienced engineers and winemakers. This IRA evaluates resource metrics, monitors progress, and identifies areas for improvement to increase efficiency and save $$$.
โ
Napa Green members implement over 120 best practices in both the Vineyard and Winery. This Earth Month, learn about 21 of them with โ21 Days, 21 Waysโ counting down to Earth Day.
๐ @materrawines
#21days21ways #earthmonth #earthday #climateaction #climatesmart #sustainablewine #regenerativeag #environmentalleadership #wineindustry #winebusiness
All of our members are committed to using at least 60% renewable energy, whether through on-site solar and other renewable sources or by working with @mcecleanenergy to access clean power through the grid. The impact? Over 1.2 million pounds of CO2e saved by wineries and vineyards in just one year. To put that into perspective itโs the equivalent to offsetting the emissions from driving over 1.5 million miles in a typical gas-powered car!
โ
Napa Green members implement over 120 best practices in both the Vineyard and Winery. This Earth Month, learn about 21 of them with โ21 Days, 21 Waysโ counting down to Earth Day.
๐ท @love.dream.breathe
๐ @corisonwinery
#21days21ways #earthmonth #earthday #climateaction #regenerativevineyard #climatesmart #sustainablewine #regenerativeag #environmentalleadership #wineindustry #winebusiness #renewableenergy #greenpower #greenenergy
As part of their commitment to sustainability, Napa Green Certified Winery members collaborate with key suppliers and utilize their purchasing power to support eco-friendly practices. In the same way, we can make a difference at home by choosing materials made from post-consumer recycled materials, and selecting reusable, recyclable, compostable, biodegradable, and non-toxic products.
โ
Napa Green members implement over 120 best practices in both the Vineyard and Winery. This Earth Month, learn about 21 of them with โ21 Days, 21 Waysโ counting down to Earth Day.
#21days21ways #earthmonth #earthday #climateaction #regenerativevineyard #climatesmart #sustainablewine #regenerativeag #environmentalleadership #wineindustry #winebusiness #greenpurchasing #supplychain
