Sustainable Vineyards

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4 Comments

Comment by Cheryl Hall on February 16, 2009 at 9:37am

Erica,
Are you planning to publish the Simi and Wild Horse information to the Green Page on the Blend site? Other alternatives could be a post on our forum here, a webinar or a post on the S&M Update. I am planning an online chat with a vineyard and winery expert for sometime in the next 3-4 weeks (as soon as I can pin people down).

Comment by Erica Valentine on February 15, 2009 at 5:36pm

I am working with Rebecca V. and Susan B. to pull together "Green Papers" on both Wild Horse and Simi, describing the many and various sustainable practices and certification programs both wineries are doing - including Simi's "Fish Friendly Farming" for our vineyards in the Alexander Valley and Russian River Vally. We need to make sure that we are staying current with this in our communication and educational programs.

Comment by Cheryl Hall on February 12, 2009 at 1:48pm

I agree. Can you forward your comment to Christopher B., Inger Shiffler and Sanda Manuila? Sanda and Inger are responsible for training all of the tour guides at RMW and Christopher is obviously the gatekeeper for that brand and how it is presented to winery visitors.

Comment by Amy Grabish on February 12, 2009 at 1:41pm

Do we have an opportunity, through hospitality, to do "sustainable" focused tours? At Mondavi, I've been through the To-Kalon tour a few times, but we need to not just talk amongst ourselves (and I'm always more than willing to chat) but get the word out there with consumers and trade - those who visit our facilities see the vineyards, but perhaps there's an untapped opportunity for a "sustainability tour" for those visitors who want that story.

Actually, let me continue - I've spoke with Matt Ashby a few times and learned about all of the different endeavors taking place in order to make the vineyards and vineyard management even more sustainable - from the goats, the owl boxes, the bat houses, to native plant landscaping. We need to get this information out there. It doesn't do me any good to sit at my desk and feel good about it - we need to communicate outwardly what we're already doing.