Menu
Read the Series:
Napa Green | Champion Story
Davie Pinฬa described going before the Coastal Conservancy to request funding: โWhen we told them we had self-funded the restoration plan, had every single landowner onboard, a partnership with the Napa Resource Conservation District and the County and more than half of the $20 million raised in matching funds, they were floored. People told us it might take 20 years to break ground. We did it in seven.โ
The plan was built from the inside out, with landowners like John Williams of Frogโs Leap, Pinฬa and other Rutherford Dust Society leaders building relationships and trust with all the landowners.
In the late 1990s, berm and levee wars were getting litigious and landowners knew building the river banks higher were just โstaying away from the river.โ Williams recalled looking at breached berms and eroding and collapsed banks, thinking, โIf we tackled these different problems together we might have a better chance.โ
The Napa Resource Conservation District (RCD) came to the Rutherford Dust Society and proposed a partnership. Many landowners needed to make expensive and time-consuming repairs. By collaborating, they could see benefits, like getting grants and sharing costs. Initially, each landowner contributed based on the length of their river frontage to privately fund a restoration engineering study. Once complete, a public-private partnership with the RCD was formed, called Rutherford Dust Restoration Team (RDRT), and began restoring and managing the Napa River from Rutherford to Oak Knoll.
Napa Countyโs Measure A Flood Control sales tax proved to be a lifeline, providing matching funds of approximately $12.5 million. This enabled RDRT to obtain grants from multiple state and federal organizations, totaling another $7.9 million. With funding and a restoration plan with environmental and regulatory approval, they broke ground.
Davie Pinฬa recalled one landowner who admitted he signed initially because he never thought the project would happen. โUltimately he invited the group over to his house and congratulated us on what weโd accomplished. Another time I ran into Michael Honig, who had seen restoration work being done on another property, and he said, โThatโs the greatest thing Iโve seen. When do you start on my property?โโ
Restoration began in 2009 and was completed in 2014. The Napa County Flood District monitors and maintains the work. Annual reports show the restoration is meeting and exceeding performance standards for project success, including positive trends in channel width-to-depth ratios; increased in-channel gravel recruitment and fine-sediment storage; increased riparian buffer width and vegetation establishment.
Napa Green is a global leader in sustainable winegrowing, setting the highest bar for sustainability and climate action in the wine industry. Napa Green facilitates systematic soil to bottle certification for wineries and vineyards, and provides the resources, tools and connections to continuously level up leadership. In 2021, Napa Green was the first sustainable winegrowing program in the world to redevelop Vineyard certification standards to focus on climate action, regenerative carbon farming, and social equity. In 2022, Napa Green and community partners launched the first of its kind, six-event RISE Climate & Wine Symposium (formerly THRIVES) with over 65 leading speakers and 40 โSustainable Services & Solutionsโ partners and sponsors.
๐๏ธ$15 wine tasting with the winemakers!? Join us at @klwines in San Francisco July 23rd & 24th tasting @spottswoodewinery, @dominusestatewinery, @chimneyrockwinery, @etudewines and many more from 4:00-6:00pm.
Pick up your tickets asap at the link in our bio!
โญ๏ธ Steal this itinerary!
Cheers to Climate Smart Wines Month is back this July and we couldnโt be more excited!
We have built some truly fabulous and sustainable experiences which you can find on www.napagreen.org and this year we have included hotels as well!
Tag us in your posts when you visit our amazing Napa Green Certified wineries so we can share your Green adventures!
Team Green is thoroughly enjoying visiting a few of our Napa Green Certified wineries today! ๐ฑ
Pictured here are the STUNNING new Sky Lofts at @rutherfordhillwinery. We strongly recommend a visit, itโs spectacular!
Wondering what this sign hung outside of the winery that you work at means? Want to be able to talk more about what it means to be @napagreen certified??
Join the Napa Green Ambassador training at Clos du Val on Wednesday, June 25 from 9-11 am to learn the answers and more.
Tickets are free but space is limited so reserve your spot from the Workshops & Events link in our bio.
#climateaction #napagreen #napagreencertified #climatesmartwinery #regenerativeag #regenerativefarming
๐ Do you want to learn more about what it means to be a Napa Green Certified Vineyard or Winery?
๐ Do you have new team members who still arenโt sure what that Napa Green Certified sign hanging out front actually means?
๐ Are you curious about this term thatโs suddenly popping up everywhere โ regenerative?
๐ Want to know what exactly does it mean to be climate smart?
Join us Wednesday, June 25, 2025 @closduval to learn how to talk about being @napapagreen certified.
Use the event link in our bio to register.
#climateaction #wineindustry #wineindustryleadership #climatesmart #sustainablewine #sustainablewinery #regenerativevineyard #regenerativeag
๐ข Attn Wineries!! Today is last day to sign up for the Cheers to Climate Smart Wines this July!
Email winery@napagreen.org to sign up today!
Thank you all for making RISE Climate & Wine Symposium a success! We 70 powerful speakers and 650 guests across the six events, dozens of commitments to action, and a flood of positive, heartfelt feedback.
Letโs keep the momentum going!
๐ธ: @briana_marie
Congratulations to Napa Green Certified @cliffamily for winning the RISE Leadership Award for Supply Chain & Waste Management Excellence!
Clif Family attended our first conference & committed to reducing their bottle weight and waste. They set upon an inspiring journey to change their packaging based on their outdoors loving and mountaineering inspired founders. They were able to..
โข lighten the weight of a case of their wine by almost 8 lbs!
โข reduce their carbon output by 42 metric tons!
โข institute fully recyclable, bio based shippers that keep wine cool!
โข eliminate all foils!
โข eliminate all plastic & metal moving fully to renewable cork enclosures!
Their customers responded with absolute enthusiasm.
โThis story is not just about wine packaging or supply chain decisions. Itโs about how we do business. Itโs leading with values. Itโs about remembering that the best way to climb higher.. is to carry less.โ - Sarah Richmond, Clif Family Winery.
Take action this Earth Month with Napa Green. Our team of experts is ready to assist you in achieving your climate action goals for both your vineyard and winery, no matter where you are in your sustainability journey.
๐ฅ @robot_productions
#earthday #earthdayeveryday #earthmonth #climateaction #sustainabilty #climatesmart #regenerativeag
๐ดWednesday April, 23rd is the day NOT to miss lunch at @cliffamily!!
Come enjoy delicious food while supporting Napa Green! See you there.
Uniquely, Napa Green isnโt just a roadmap of leading practices. Napa Green provides an expert, boots-on-the-ground consulting team that develops:
โ
Regenerative Carbon Farm Plans (to enhance soil health, biodiversity, resilience, and carbon storage)
โ
Irrigation Distribution Uniformity Assessments (to maximize water efficiency)
โ
Integrated Resource Assessments (to reduce energy, water, waste and emissions in production)
โ
Action Plans for continuing improvement (tailored to the opportunities and goals of each vineyard or winery)
Additionally, we support soil sampling and analysis, provide resource assistance, run practical training and education workshops throughout the year, and provide valuable, hands-on guidance in meeting your climate action goals.
โ
Napa Green members implement over 120 best practices in both the Vineyard and Winery. This Earth Month, learn about 21 of them with โ21 Days, 21 Waysโ counting down to Earth Day.
๐ท @buddsocial
๐ @tressabores
#21days21ways #earthmonth #earthday #climateaction #regenerativevineyard #climatesmart #sustainablewine #regenerativeag #environmentalleadership #wineindustry #winebusiness
Napa Greenโs vineyard team is trained to develop regenerative, whole-farm Carbon Farm Plans (CFPs). These plans review all of the current beneficial practices that are increasing soil and ecosystem health and storing carbon, and identify additional opportunities to regenerate the soil and vineyard ecosystem and simultaneously maximize carbon capture in a given property. Each vineyardโs goal is to become carbon neutral (or negative) and increase the resilience of vineyards, businesses, and our community.
โ
Napa Green members implement over 120 best practices in both the Vineyard and Winery. This Earth Month, learn about 21 of them with โ21 Days, 21 Waysโ counting down to Earth Day.
๐ท @soilrainandhope
๐ @tressabores
#21days21ways #earthmonth #earthday #climateaction #regenerativevineyard #climatesmart #sustainablewine #regenerativeag #environmentalleadership #wineindustry #winebusiness
Clear pathways for employee advancement are essential for a thriving workforce and driving success. They boost retention, job satisfaction, productivity, and attract top talent. Napa Green Certified members develop pathways for growth, discussing career goals and progress with employees during reviews.
โ
Napa Green members implement over 120 best practices in both the Vineyard and Winery. This Earth Month, learn about 21 of them with โ21 Days, 21 Waysโ counting down to Earth Day.
๐ท @briana_marie
๐ @dominusestatewinery
#21days21ways #earthmonth #earthday #climateaction #regenerativevineyard #climatesmart #sustainablewine #regenerativeag #environmentalleadership #wineindustry #winebusiness
Forests are not only our largest terrestrial carbon sink, they are also home to 80% of the worldโs on-land diversity. We need healthy forests, which means a balanced density of native trees and plants. Healthy forests experience lower intensity fires with less tree mortality, meaning higher carbon retention and ecosystem function.
โ
Napa Green members implement over 120 best practices in both the Vineyard and Winery. This Earth Month, learn about 21 of them with โ21 Days, 21 Waysโ counting down to Earth Day.
๐ท @abrittain
๐ @seaveyvineyard
#21days21ways #earthmonth #earthday #climateaction #regenerativevineyard #climatesmart #sustainablewine #regenerativeag #environmentalleadership #wineindustry #winebusiness
Napa Green Certified Wineries benefit from an on-site Integrated Resource Assessment (IRA) led by our experienced engineers and winemakers. This IRA evaluates resource metrics, monitors progress, and identifies areas for improvement to increase efficiency and save $$$.
โ
Napa Green members implement over 120 best practices in both the Vineyard and Winery. This Earth Month, learn about 21 of them with โ21 Days, 21 Waysโ counting down to Earth Day.
๐ @materrawines
#21days21ways #earthmonth #earthday #climateaction #climatesmart #sustainablewine #regenerativeag #environmentalleadership #wineindustry #winebusiness
All of our members are committed to using at least 60% renewable energy, whether through on-site solar and other renewable sources or by working with @mcecleanenergy to access clean power through the grid. The impact? Over 1.2 million pounds of CO2e saved by wineries and vineyards in just one year. To put that into perspective itโs the equivalent to offsetting the emissions from driving over 1.5 million miles in a typical gas-powered car!
โ
Napa Green members implement over 120 best practices in both the Vineyard and Winery. This Earth Month, learn about 21 of them with โ21 Days, 21 Waysโ counting down to Earth Day.
๐ท @love.dream.breathe
๐ @corisonwinery
#21days21ways #earthmonth #earthday #climateaction #regenerativevineyard #climatesmart #sustainablewine #regenerativeag #environmentalleadership #wineindustry #winebusiness #renewableenergy #greenpower #greenenergy
