Choosing Sustainable Wines It’s easy being Napa Green

BY ANNA DORL

IIt’s finally the holiday season! What better way to unwind than enjoying some quality time with family around a fireplace with a glass of sustainably produced wine in hand?

The highly sought-after Napa Green Winery and Napa Green

Vineyard certifications are awarded to quality wineries and vineyards in the Napa Valley area that prioritize sustainability within their operations. Wherever you may be spending the holidays this year, transport yourself to a warm and sunny California vineyard as you sit back, relax and read about some Napa Green Certified Wineries with unique approaches to their sustainable practices.

SPOTTSWOODE ESTATE

Spottswoode is one of the first wineries in the Napa

Valley area to utilize organic practices, which they first introduced on their property in 1985. The winery was established before the Prohibition era by Mary Weber Novak, one of the first women to spearhead a winery in the Napa region. Today, the company is run by her daughters – Beth Novak Millikin, president and CEO; and Lindy Novak, marketing ambassador. Besides their coveted Napa Green Certification, Spottswoode holds numerous other titles, displaying their ongoing commitment to sustainable practices since their beginnings. To name a few: the winery is a Certified B Corporation, a certified Biodynamic farm through the Demeter Association and they obtained their

Photo courtesy Spottswoode Estates

California Certified Organic Farmers certification in 1992. Spottswoode is also pursuing TRUE Gold Level Zero Waste certification. To see all of the winery’s sustainability certifications and continued efforts, visit www.spottswoode. com/one-earth.

Spottswoode employs sustainability at multiple levels, which includes biodynamic practices, prioritizing composting efforts and utilizing the lunar calendar for best crop production. The winery, office and vineyard harness solar power from their panel arrays around the property, meeting most of their energy needs; if they need a little extra, Spottswoode “purchase[s] renewable energy through Marin Energy’s Deep Green program,” according to their One Earth web page. Visit www.spottswoode.com for more information.

SAINTSBURY WINERY Established in 1981 by David Graves and Richard Ward, who met during a brewing class at the University of California at Davis, Saintsbury Winery was named after George Saintsbury, an influential “scholar, literary historian and oenophile (wine connoisseur)”. When entering Saintsbury’s website, visitors are met with this quote from him: “When the wines were good, they pleased my senses, cheered my spirits, improved my moral and intellectual powers, besides enabling me to confer the same benefits on other people.” These sentiments sum up the mission of Saintsbury, but the benefits he refers to go well beyond people – the winery’s commitment to the planet is even more impressive. Saintsbury received their Napa Green certification in 2007. Since then, their efforts to maintain their green reputation have only intensified. The property boasts a 7,000-squarefoot solar panel area, which meets most of the power needs of the property including the winery, vineyards and offices. The photovoltaic solar power system that they use to harness that energy produces 85 kilowatts. The winery utilizes recycled water for irrigating their vineyards, as well as recycled materials for packaging and shipping their products. The Saintsbury team looks forward to taking their sustainability a step further with the installation of EV charging stations and a BioFiltro wastewater filtration system in the near future. Saintsbury works in tandem with partner vineyards in surrounding areas to ensure they can produce different types of quality wine year-round. Sangiacomo Green Acres Vineyard in Carneros, once a pear orchard, now helps to produce some of Saintsbury’s finest chardonnays. Pratt Vineyard on the Sonoma Coast tends to have a cooler temperature as well as sandy soil: “a true winemaker’s site” according to Saintsbury’s website. Sundawg Ridge Vineyard,

Photo courtesy Saintsbury Winery

Photo courtesy Phifer Pavitt Winery

located in the Green Valley area of the Russian River Valley, tends to develop a darker, fruitier flavor in the grapes grown there. By utilizing these partner sites, Saintsbury harnesses the different environments at their disposal and ends up with flavorful, intentionally crafted (and of course, sustainable) wine.

Visit www.saintsbury.com for more information.

PHIFER PAVITT WINERY Phifer Pavitt is a certified Napa Green Winery and Napa Green Vineyard with numerous different dedications to sustainability, including their Fish Farming Friendly certification. According to their business philosophy, “An ongoing stewardship of our land and our environment is at the core of our farming and winemaking practices at Phifer Pavitt. We are passionately committed to sustainable and organic farming, and caring for our estate, the soil, and the water as diligently as we care for our vines.” “We were significantly impacted by the September 2020 Glass Fire. As a result, we lost our entire estate vineyard,” said Darlyne Miller, director of sales and membership at Phifer Pavitt. “As devastating as it was, Suzanne Phifer Pavitt, our founder and CEO, has looked to the silver linings when it comes to our rebuild and replanting. In particular, Suzanne convinced our viticultural team to painstakingly remove each charred/dead vine by hand and to replant the new vines in the same soil, which was now rich with nitrogen and nutrient-dense ash. It is paramount to Suzanne to be environmentally sensitive to the distressed and damaged land.” Phifer Pavitt’s on-site tasting room, known as the Eco-Barn, was made from reclaimed, recycled, or reused materials. “One of its more fun components is the 100% postconsumable recycled blue jeans that serve as the insulation for the building, as well as the light fixtures [that were] created from hog-wire and hay-baling that were found on the property,” said Miller. Visit www.phiferpavittwine.com for more information.

Photo courtesy St. Supéry Vineyards & Winery

ST. SUPÉRY ESTATE VINEYARDS & WINERY “Sustainability is a way of life at St. Supéry,” said winery CEO Emma Swain. “As an estate winery, we are fortunate to have complete control over how we farm our land and produce our wine; we champion sustainability at every step of the process. Every bottle is 100% Napa Green Certified Land and Winery.” The property utilizes 100% reclaimed water and is 80% solar-powered, devoting two-thirds of their acreage to maintaining natural biodiversity. St. Supéry’s wine is 100% estate-grown, meaning that customers can always know where their wine truly comes from, since every bottle is produced onsite. Besides their devotion to sustainable practices, St. Supéry has maintained their connections with nonprofits and other organizations that they support. Swain says that when the pandemic hit in 2020, St. Supéry continued to donate to the organizations they work with and to lend a hand wherever possible. “We committed over $100,000 to Napa Valley Community Foundation Disaster Relief Fund by pledging $5 from every bottle of our 2020 Napa Valley Estate Sauvignon Blanc. The fund has supported our neighbors with rental assistance during COVID-19, as well as short- and long-term needs for families displaced by fire and earthquake.” St. Supéry’s Great Sustainable Seafood Tour allows the winery to team up with partners to offer sustainable recipes, virtual wine tastings and stories from seafood purveyors. “We work to make a real, lasting difference and empower employees and customers to consider how their choices can make a difference from recycling, composting or choosing sustainably sourced seafood,” Swain said. Visit www.stsupery.com for more information.