Earth Day: Wine's Top 7 Earth Accomplishments

An image gallery of Cuvasion's earth friendly practices

With Organic, Sustainable, and Biodynamic all trending words in wine lingo, wineries are leading the way in activities supporting our earth.  Here are just a few that I find quiet impressive:

7.  Hall:  Sustainable farming practices; certified Napa Green Land & certified Napa Green Winery which is a certification issued by the Napa County Agriculutrual Commissoners office to wineries that practice sustainable winery and farming practices.

6.  Frog’s Leap Winery:  Not only are they certified Napa Green Land, but this winery also uses dry farming (a method that reduces the amount of used water), plants cover crops (crops that foster natural nutrients to serve as a habitat for indigenous insects and animals), uses LEED practices  & solar energy for their winery headquarters AND also practices biodynamic farming (although they are not certified).

5.  Shafer:  Started sustainable farming practices in the late 1980′s; uses nesting boxes for owls & perch poles for raptors.  The use of boxes & perch poles attracts birds that kill rodents and insects thereby reducing Shafer’s need for pesticides.  In 2004, they switched to 100% solar power, over Shafer’s lifetime they estimate the impact of the solar energy switch will be equal to planting 17,000 trees.

4.  ZD Wines:  Was in the forefront of organic farming and began doing so in the early 1980′s before they even applied for certification.  Uses compost as chemical fertilizer.

3. Hess:  Certified Napa Green Winery & Napa Green Land; sustainable farming practices including composting, cover crops, soil management with no til farming; owl boxes & perches to attract natural birds and reduce use of pesticides, water conservation, dry farming, erosion control.

2.  Honig: Cover crops; owl boxes/nesting boxes;  No herbicides; Use of bio diesel in tractors; Drip irrigation; Improving the habitat for indigenous animals beyond the vineyard.  In addition to ALL of that, Honig launched a photvoltaic system (they call it their electricity farm) that generates enough power to run the entire winery.

1.  Cuvasion:  In 2009, Cuvaison opened their new Carneros tasting room next to their solar powered facility.  Just a few short years after completing the solar power facility, Cuvasion is actually producing more energy that it needs.  On top of that, they are also active in with the code of Sustainable Winegrowing Practice, sustainably farmed, certified Napa Green Winery & Green Land, and active in cork recycling.  Pretty impressive.  You can even check out their website that maintains an accurate report of the output of their solar energy.
http://www.cuvaison.com/Green/Solar

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