In recent years as I have learned more about the wine industry, it has become clear we are seeing an accelerating shift towards more sustainable models of wine production. And while the foundation of this shift is how the grapes grown, more and more sustainability encompasses all aspects of production and sales.
I see several elements that show up to various degrees in this movement. And while there are incidents of “green washing” – where producers put more into marketing than actually doing the work – many producers genuinely are committed to this. And not just for their own survival but also that of future generations.
In this column, I begin with the foundation of sustainability, the soil and the vineyard.
I’m guessing it’s been at least sixty-plus years since farmers and soon after winegrowers began asserting the benefits of organic farming. Of course, it has been said “organic farming” used to be called just “farming” (before the rise of chemical applications). Since that time, although a slow process and still accounting for only about 8% of all vineyard land, increasingly organics have been adopted in the last twenty years and especially the last ten.
Producers who don’t want to follow the strict rules, or pay the cost, to achieve an organic certification but still want to be responsible may employ “sustainable” methods like avoiding chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. But without certification, there is no way to be sure.
Biodynamic farming, which originated in the 1920s, has gained increasing interest among growers who want to go beyond organics to treat the farm as a living, interrelated organism by integrating practices such as use of composting and cover crops, and incorporating animals.
The current state-of-the-art is regenerative agriculture. Mark Neal of Neal Family Vineyards (the first Napa Valley winery Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC®) with wines from 100% Biodynamic® certified vineyards) describes regenerative organic farming as “a form of agriculture that combines the principles of organic farming and biodynamic farming. The goal is to improve the overall quality of soil health without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or genetically modified organisms, while simultaneously enriching the surrounding ecosystem, biodiversity, and animal welfare. Regenerative organic farmers use techniques such as cover cropping, crop rotation, and composting to build healthy soil and sequester carbon.”
Anne Bousquet, co-owner and CEO of Domaine Bousquet, which is also ROC® certified, says “When it comes to sustainability, organic, biodynamic and regenerative farming all strive toward the same goals, to increase the quality of grapes and preserve the land for future generations. The health of our vineyards has always been very good, the result of working organically from the outset. But working regeneratively has taken vineyard health to the next level.”