With all the talk of ‘going green’ and the general attitude of preserving and resurrecting our environment, it makes total sense that many wineries are switching to more environmentally sound production methods. If you yourself make wine, or a simply a fan of wine and would like to learn more about the process of making eco friendly wines, here is a list of America’s 10 most environmentally friendly wineries.
1) Kendall Jackson: This California sustainable certified vineyard has been involved in wine making for nearly three decades, and their website offers educational information about their winery as well as their proves.
What makes this winery green? Kendall Jackson uses solar power, water conservation, and recycled inputs throughout its 14,000 acres. All in all they maintain green vineyards that are overwhelmingly impressive.
2) Alma Rosa: Working in partnership for more than 30 years, Thekla and Richard Sanford founded multiple, successful winegrowing enterprises. Their latest venture, Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyards, represents the culmination of a lifetime’s experience – an enterprise dedicated to creating high quality wines and setting a benchmark for organic farming, sustainable agriculture methods, and environment-friendly commerce.
What makes this winery green? Besides the fact they’re certified organic, not only do they use green farming techniques like water conservation, but they also employ a standard bottle mold for all of wines, which reduces bottle production waste. The winery itself was designed using green building standards such as local, recycled resources.
3) French Rabbit Wines: The Boisset family, with its roots in Burgundy, France, has been making quality wine for two generations. The grapes for French rabbit wines are sourced through sustainable farming in the sunny vineyards of Languedoc Roussillion region in southern France.
What makes this winery green? They employ green standards for the production of biodynamic fruit beverages. In addition to their sustainable farming techniques, French Rabbit uses the TetraPak, an eco-friendly liquid storage carton.
4) Frog’s Leap Winery: A fun, unique little winery (you can tell just for their homepage), Frog’s Leap was founded on a historical property in St. Helena known to be a commercial frog farm in the late 1800’s. When John Williams first came to the Napa Valley in 1975, he began making wine for a little known winery called “Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars”. In 1981, a batch of wine was made at the “Frog Farm” with “borrowed” grapes from Stag’s Leap, and the rest is history.
What makes this winery green? They are one of the only wineries to use dry farming, a method that reduces the amount of water used. Frog’s Leap also plants cover crops annually, such as oats and mustard that give off natural nutrients, which foster soil growth and serve as a habitat for local insects and birds. In addition to its green farming practices, its winery headquarters are LEED certified and are powered by solar energy.
5) Grgich Hills Estate: Committed to making distinctive wines with quality, consistency and longevity, they have produced wines that have been consumed by various work leaders such as Presidents Reagan and Clinton, Queen Elizabeth II and French President François Mitterrand.
What makes this winery green? Lauded for its green practices, such as its organic farming techniques, natural corks and solar powered energy, this is an actively sustainable winery.
