Fetzer Vineyards: the first good winery!

From the Press Democrat: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/busine...ifornia-winery

Fetzer Vineyards becomes largest California winery to be certified as B Corporation


Fetzer Vineyards, the Hopland-based pioneer in sustainable winemaking, announced Tuesday that it has become the first winery in California to become a certified B Corporation, joining the ranks of businesses such as Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s that promote their commitment to social responsibility and environmental practices as well as profits.

Fetzer becomes one of a handful of U.S. wineries to obtain the private certification, which is issued by B Lab, a nonprofit based in Wayne, Pa. Beyond being graded on its environmental commitment, a company also receives marks on how it treats its workers; its relationship with its community; and its business governance structure.
The company, which was acquired in 2011 by Chilean vintner Concha y Toro, joins more than 1,400 companies in 40 countries that have become certified B Corporations.

“That’s a great group. … You’re in great company there,” said Robert Girling, a Sonoma State University business professor and author of the newly released book “The Good Company: Sustainability in Hospitality, Tourism, and Wine.”

The company, which was founded in 1968 by Barney Fetzer and has more than 300 employees today, saw the certification as a natural step in its progression. It already has 960 acres of organic vineyards and 260 acres that are biodynamic, where crops are grown without chemicals in an attempt to have the farm’s ecosystem be balanced, self-sustaining and healing, said Josh Prigge, Fetzer’s director of regenerative development.
The company received a score of 36 for its environmental practices, compared to a median score of 9 for B Corporations. Overall, it earned a score of 80 points, the minimum required for certification on B Lab’s 200-point scale.

As part of the commitment, Fetzer announced that it is seeking to become a “Net Positive” company by 2030, meaning that it will replenish more energy, water and other resources than it uses to make and sell wine, employing environmentally friendly practices such as solar panels, water meters and drip irrigation.
“We want to put back more in the world than we take out,” Prigge said.

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The situation at Fetzer is more complicated than this wine cheerleader PD article presents. There are many more environmental vineyards and wineries on the North Coast, like Wild Hog in Cazadero.

This is an informative, helpful article with some good details. However, Fetzer is an example of significant contradictions. However good it is--and I do drink their organic Bonterra brand--it was owned for a long time by Brown-Forman, the huge Kentucky-based alcohol corporation. B-F also owns Jack Daniels, Southern Comfort, and Sonoma-Cutrer, according to "The Myth of the Family Winery: Global Corporations Behind California Wine," published in 2009 by the Marin Institute. Fetzer was bought by a Chilean vintner in 2011, so it is not local.

Brown-Forman is one of the top ten wine corporations in the U.S. and SoCo's wine industry is moving toward more concentration and consolidation, which means less control by the smaller, family-based vineyards and wineries that should be actively supported. Korbel, which is currently owned by the Heck family, according to a worker at Korbel, may be on the selling block, with Brown-Forman apparently being the main suitor. Sonoma County is becoming the alcohol capital of California, with colonies in the nearby Mendocino, Lake, and Napa counties.

I appreciate the quotes in this article from my former SSU colleague Robert Girling, now retired and author of the book "The Good Company," which I would recommend. Another former colleague of mine at SSU is one of the professors who goes to Asia to promote Sonoma County's wine industry. There is usually a back story with helpful analysis and context, which the PD often fails to provide.

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Posted in reply to the post by Sara S:

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Good for who?

Does anyone know of any local vineyard that is managed in a regenerative way?
That is, where diversity of plant and animal species is encouraged rather than a grapevine monoculture?
Where soil and water is protected with mulch or cover crops, and that is open and inviting to wildlife?
Do you know of any vineyard whose practices result in increasing soil fertility and biomass?
Does it sequester more carbon than it releases?
Are they beautiful and would you want your grandchildren to play in them?
If you know of such vineyards, let's reward, celebrate, and emulate them.

I think these questions are basic to reforming all agriculture in the direction of planetary health, survival and well-being.

https://www.ucsusa.org/our-work/food...e#.ViqAHcur8qY

Barton Stone

Good questions! If the vineyard owners were to re-plant all the redwoods, oaks, apple, and other trees they have got down, that would be a step toward being "good." If they took down all the fences that keep the original inhabitants out, replaced by their invasive species, that would be a step toward being "good." If they ceased spraying poisons that kill bees and harm humans and other life forms, that would be a further step toward being "good." Otherwise, they can make no claim toward real sustainability, except sustaining their investors, most of who live far away from Sonoma County.