Where Big Wine is good - for the environment.

Here is an interesting take on the Big Wine/water shortage discussion.

https://graphics8.nytimes.com/images...logo152x23.gif
Falcons, Drones,Data: A Winery Battles Climate Change
Jackson Family Wines is among California winemakers employing both high-tech and old-school
techniques to adapt to hotter, drier conditions
By DAVID GELLESJAN. 5, 2017

On a misty autumn morning in Sonoma County, Calif., Katie Jackson headed into the vineyards to assess the harvest. It was late in the season, and an army of field workers was rushing to pick the grapes before the first rains, however faint, began falling.

But on this day, Ms. Jackson, the vice president for sustainability and external affairs at Jackson Family Wines, was not just minding the usual haul of cabernet, chardonnay and merlot grapes. She also checked on the sophisticated network of systems she had put in place to help crops adapt to a changing climate.

Ms. Jackson, along with her siblings and mother, owns and operates Jackson Family Wines, one of the largest family-owned winemakers in the country. Best known for its Kendall-Jackson chardonnay, a supermarket staple, the family also produces dozens of other wines on five continents. After decades in the business, the Jacksons are sensitive to slight variations in the weather, and they are convinced of one thing: It is getting hotter and drier, and that could be a problem.

As California endures a yearslong drought, the Jacksons, like other winemakers, are grappling with new realities. Grapes, though a surprisingly resilient crop, are ripening earlier. Nights are warmer. Aquifers are running dry.

As a result, the region’s wine country has become a laboratory for the reshaping of agriculture nationwide. Because, of course, it’s not just California that’s warming up.

The Jacksons are going beyond the usual drought-mitigation measures. They are using owls and falcons, to go after pests drawn by the milder winters. They are finding new ways to capture rainfall. And since fossil-fuel consumption is one of the biggest drivers of climate change, they are trying to become more energy efficient, in part through the use of old-school farming techniques.

Climate change is forcing the Jacksons to confront questions both practical and existential: Can you make fine wine with less water? Will good grapes still grow here in 20 years? What will become of an industry central to California’s identity, one that says it contributes $114 billion a year to the nation’s economy?

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This is an amazing article about the efforts of Kendall Jackson to combat climate change. I'm surprised there were no "gratitudes" or comments. Perhaps wineries are viewed as the enemy, being large and a corporation of all things. Articles about terrible wineries (Paul Hobbs, Joe Wagner's winery near Llano, cancellation of the fun filled Wilson Winery summer concerts) ... get many more comments - perhaps that's human nature, to find fault rather than affirmation.

Kendall Jackson is a good example of an environmentally conscious winery!

The article related how they'd built 100 reservoirs on their lands, are planting new vines with roots that go deeper, have reduced their water consumption by 30%, use owls and raptors to control bugs & rats instead of pesticides, and bought some vineyards around Portland, where things are cooler. .

Ok I like wine so I guess I'm prejudiced...
Jesus drank wine.

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Posted in reply to the post by luke32:

Here is an interesting take on the Big Wine/water shortage discussion.

https://graphics8.nytimes.com/images...logo152x23.gif
Falcons, Drones,Data: A Winery Battles Climate Change
Jackson Family Wines is among California winemakers employing both high-tech and old-school
techniques to adapt to hotter, drier conditions
By DAVID GELLESJAN. 5, 2017

On a misty autumn morning in Sonoma County, Calif., Katie Jackson headed into the vineyards to assess the harvest. It was late in the season, and an army of field workers was rushing to pick the grapes before the first rains, however faint, began falling.

But on this day, Ms. Jackson, the vice president for sustainability and external affairs at Jackson Family Wines, was not just minding the usual haul of cabernet, chardonnay and merlot grapes. She also checked on the sophisticated network of systems she had put in place to help crops adapt to a changing climate.

Ms. Jackson, along with her siblings and mother, owns and operates Jackson Family Wines, one of the largest family-owned winemakers in the country. Best known for its Kendall-Jackson chardonnay, a supermarket staple, the family also produces dozens of other wines on five continents. After decades in the business, the Jacksons are sensitive to slight variations in the weather, and they are convinced of one thing: It is getting hotter and drier, and that could be a problem.

As California endures a yearslong drought, the Jacksons, like other winemakers, are grappling with new realities. Grapes, though a surprisingly resilient crop, are ripening earlier. Nights are warmer. Aquifers are running dry.

As a result, the region’s wine country has become a laboratory for the reshaping of agriculture nationwide. Because, of course, it’s not just California that’s warming up.

The Jacksons are going beyond the usual drought-mitigation measures. They are using owls and falcons, to go after pests drawn by the milder winters. They are finding new ways to capture rainfall. And since fossil-fuel consumption is one of the biggest drivers of climate change, they are trying to become more energy efficient, in part through the use of old-school farming techniques.

Climate change is forcing the Jacksons to confront questions both practical and existential: Can you make fine wine with less water? Will good grapes still grow here in 20 years? What will become of an industry central to California’s identity, one that says it contributes $114 billion a year to the nation’s economy?

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Posted in reply to the post by tommy:

...I'm surprised there were no "gratitudes" or comments. ...

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Perhaps we're just jaded by the amount of fluff pieces that the Press-Oligarchy put out about the rich people around town to sway our opinions about the destruction of the environment. There is one piece of good news, however: those grapes will suck the flood waters dry in a matter of weeks, so we can continue hearing about how drastic the drought situation is here in Sonoma County.

Here is an interesting response to this NYT article that I read today...

"In the New York Times, Another Greenwashing Story About Wine: Why?"
https://winecountrygeographic.blogsp...enwashing.html

:waccosun:

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Posted in reply to the post by luke32:

Here is an interesting take on the Big Wine/water shortage discussion.

https://graphics8.nytimes.com/images...logo152x23.gif
Falcons, Drones,Data: A Winery Battles Climate Change
Jackson Family Wines is among California winemakers employing both high-tech and old-school
techniques to adapt to hotter, drier conditions

Continues here

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Thanks for the love, but I'm just passing on the hard work of another... Pam at Organic Wines Uncorked does a fabulous job of critiquing the local wine industry's claims of being "sustainable."

In case you missed it, she's also written a great post called "The Emperor's New (Green Marketing) Clothes: "Sustainability" Program Ramps Up in Sonoma - Headed by Marketing Professor"... Check it out:
https://winecountrygeographic.blogsp...marketing.html

PS: There's an article in today's Press Democrat about this new initiative by the Sonoma County Winegrowers, "Sonoma County Winegrowers double down on sustainability goal"

Stay informed & be nice. ;)

There's an insert in today's Press Democrat: Sonoma County Winegrowers' 3rd Annual Sustainability Report

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Posted in reply to the post by Sara S:

There's an insert in today's Press Democrat: Sonoma County Winegrowers' 3rd Annual Sustainability Report

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You can see it online here.

So much for the great wine industry. Wine industry bullies Saturday night shut down a pizza fundraiser in Napa for a pro community, water, environment and health group: NapaVision2050. Napa Pizza-Gate?

Saturday Night
Massacre:

Goliath Gobbled our Pizza Money


I have a disturbing story to tell you. This is a story of bullying and intimidation - the kind you read about in coal country. You don’t expect it here in Our Napa Valley.
On Friday we sent you an email newsletter describing the Register’s No. 1 story of the year, “Wine Industry Under Fire” and we told you of our January 22 fundraiser wherein we had partnered with Forge Pizza restaurant for a dine and donate event where they would give us a percentage of each check when you showed the Napa Vision 2050/Forge flyer.

That was Friday. Well, by Saturday night apparently enough wine industry reps and wineries had called the Forge to complain about our Dine and Donate agreement that Forge cancelled the fundraiser. Let’s get this straight, the billion dollar wine business objected to our nonprofit, dedicated to the health and environment in Napa, Our Napa Valley, collecting some donations from the pizza that its supporters purchased. The wine industry’s fingerprints are clearly all over this episode.

So now you have it, the magnanimous, gracious, “community-minded” wine industry steps in to deny us our pizza money—it would be hilarious if it weren’t true. Rest assured, Napa, we’re not going to be bullied away. We are your neighbors from all over the county. We have spent over $200,000 out of our own pockets fighting for sanity in growth, fighting for clean air and water. We’re continuing the fight against the expansion of the Syar Mine and its carcinogenic pollutants, the Walt Ranch deforesting Atlas Peak, digging into why Napa County has the highest rates of cancer among all California counties, shining light on the wineries who violate their permits and the County government that allows all of this.

You know we always look to Our Napa Valley to come together in these efforts. We’ve got a big lemon here. Let’s make a lot of lemonade. Big Bully Wine scuttled our Forge Dine and Donate so we’ll have to do our fundraising elsewhere. Scratch the Forge Dine and Donate on January 22 -- we’ll let you know real quick when and where our Napa Vision 2050’s Fundraising Pizza Party will be.

Yours respectfully,

Dan Mufson
President
Napa Vision 2050

If you didn't already know it's all about PROFIT.... See article in North Bay Business Journal

Also... how much can you *really* care about your vineyard workers when you flippantly suggest we just replace them with robots?...

"Do we need immigration reform? I don’t know,” Kruse said. “I think the better question is: How are we going to farm our vineyards? We may not need immigration reform at all. Maybe we need an army of robots.”
- From Press Democrat article Jan 12, 2017

How about just pay them a living wage? Just an idea.

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Posted in reply to the post by Barry:

You can see it online here.
https://www.waccobb.net/forums/wacco...6_20-14-19.png

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Here is an eye opening assessment report on the winegrowers 'sustainability' meeting by Pam Strayer, a leading specialist on organic and bio-dynamic wines:

https://www.WaccoBB.net/forums/wacco...6_20-16-04.png

Thursday, January 12, 2017
Sonoma Gets Its (Toxics) Closeup: What's On Those Vines?
A Look at Carcinogens, Neurotoxins, and More

Sonoma Winegrowers is trying hard to sound like it's green, announcing for the third year in a row that it intends to be the first county in the U.S. to be certified sustainable. This year it says 60 percent - or 34,000 acres (out of 58,000) - of vineyard acreage in the county is now "certified sustainable."

What impact is that having on farming practices? On the vineyards?

I think it's a fair question to ask Sonoma's sustainability program leadership if they will - adhering to their stated goals of being "socially responsible" and "environmentally conscientious" - be reducing the amount of toxic chemicals applied to vineyards in the county as part of their program.

Today, Sonoma's growers use quite a few toxic substances for growing wine grapes. Sonoma is far less organic than its neighbors to the north (Mendocino, which is 24% organic) and to the east (Napa, where 7 percent of vines are certified organic). Fewer than 3 percent of Sonoma vines are eco-certified (by a legal standard) - organic or Biodynamic.

If you truly wanted to represent yourself as green, why wouldn't the Sonoma Winegrowers also promote organic certification as a goal for its members?

Sustainability - What's in a Name?

While everyone can appreciate efforts by wineries to use natural resources and energy more efficiently - and we do - too often sustainability is more visible in marketing programs than in the vines.

Wineries don't really educate consumers on what sustainability really means. They are happy to provide information about using less water or energy, or their cover crops or bird boxes, but overall they leave the impression that they're a lot greener than they are. Once when I was writing an article and interviewing retail clerks in wine stores, I asked a wine store clerk in Chicago what sustainable meant. Like a lot of people, he told me it was "like organic or something."

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A letter to the Editor-Press Democrat. 1/18

Defining sustainable
EDITOR: Saturday’s promotional supplement on sustainable wine growing shows the shortfalls of the sustainability program. Under “Defining Sustainability,” it says a grower is committed to being socially responsible, environmentally conscientious and economically viable, but what does that mean?

I live in the Sonoma Valley and respect the efforts of wineries to be sustainable — while also desiring more of a commitment to environmentally friendly practices. Being certified as sustainable doesn’t mean the grower has stopped using harmful chemicals, which find their way into our food as well as our water.

Many growers, not only those certified as organic, don’t use glyphosate (the chemical in Roundup) or fungicides and other harmful practices in their vineyards, demonstrating that they aren’t necessary to growing grapes.
I urge readers to ask about the wines you buy and support farmers who are growing without chemical herbicides, fungicides or insecticides. Especially support growers who grow grapes organically. That is truly sustainable.
JUDY HELFAND
Kenwood

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Posted in reply to the post by Trudy Trueheart:

Here is an eye opening assessment report on the winegrowers 'sustainability' meeting by Pam Strayer, a leading specialist on organic and bio-dynamic wines

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In case you were wondering... The definition of "sustainable" that the Sonoma County Winegrowers are using for their "100% sustainable" goal comes from the California Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Workbook, available for download or order online at California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance's website. Once the grower gets through the workbook & meets all the requirements, a "third party auditor" visits the grower's vineyards & does a check against the CSWA's requirements.

Other programs that are accepted by the Sonoma County Winegrowers are: Fish Friendly Farming, Lodi Rules, or Sustainable in Practice (SIP).