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Napa Green Receives $456,000 Grant to Grow the New Napa Green Vineyard Certification and Celebrates First Five Certified Members

(Napa Valley, CA, April 13, 2022) — Napa Green, the leading non-profit sustainable winegrowing program, has been awarded a three-year, $456,000 Specialty Crop Block Grant* to continue to grow participation and impact in the new, cutting-edge Napa Green Vineyard certification.

In 2021, Napa Green became the first sustainable winegrowing certification to launch a completely redeveloped, next-level set of vineyard standards focused on the critical issues of today and tomorrow: climate action, regenerative carbon farming, and social equity, justice, and inclusion. This grant expands Napa Green’s capacity to implement this rigorous certification and work with more Napa County growers to play an active role in on-farm carbon sequestration and building vineyard resilience to our changing climate. Napa Green has set the ambitious goal to work with certified growers to become carbon neutral within six years, and climate positive within nine years.

The first five growers to complete the new program and become Napa Green Certified Vineyards include: Opus One Winery; Spottswoode Winery; Dominus Estate; Clif Family Winery; and Sequoia Grove Winery. An additional 42 growers are actively transitioning to Napa Green Vineyard certification, with 5,800 vineyard acres and over 13,700 total land acres currently certified or in transition. Eager and early adoption of the new program reflects the desire of many growers to help set an industry standard of sustainability and climate action leadership.

Tod Mostero, Director of Viticulture & Winemaking at Dominus Estate, shares, “Napa Green has driven us to assess every aspect of what we do, aim to constantly question, continually improve and sustain a vision that benefits the quality of our wine, our ecosystems and our communities. To me personally, being among the first Napa Green Certified Vineyards has shifted my perspective. Alone, our impact is relatively limited. But if through Napa Green certification we can inspire other growers to strive toward sustainability, we have created accelerated movement toward real vibrancy, growth and health in our region and beyond.”

Dominus, Opus One, Spottswoode, and Clif Family and are all certified at the “Gold Level,” meaning they farm organically, and are synthetic herbicide- and neonicotinoid-free (pesticides that are high-risk for pollinators).

“It is inspiring to see that this new revised Napa Green Vineyard certification program adds comprehensive elements to address social equity, climate change and other aspects of environmental sustainability, therefore setting a ‘high bar,’” shared Ann Thrupp (PhD), consultant to Clif Family Winery. “This certification can help ensure authentic approaches, and contribute to substantial social, ecological and economic benefits.”

With the award of the Specialty Crop Block Grant, Napa Green will hire a Climate & Soil Specialist to work directly with growers and provide additional, on-the-ground support to achieve certification and implement the more than 100 required actions. In addition, Napa Green will host a total of 12 workshops to help immerse growers in sustainable practices like vine/wood waste low-pollution burn alternatives; the triple win of carbon farming, soil health, and vineyard resilience; and methods to streamline training, build engagement, and create opportunities for advancement for vineyard teams.

“Our goal is to set the highest standards for sustainability leadership in the global wine industry,” says Anna Brittain, Executive Director of Napa Green. “This is not a traditional top-down certification; we aim to be an extension of our member’s teams. The need for climate action is urgent and we are here to provide growers with the guidance, tools, and support to take bold action and continue to be sustainability leaders. We are grateful for this critical grant support, and for all of the growers adopting the new Napa Green Vineyard certification. Together, we can be an outsized force for industry change.”

*Funding for the project, “Tomorrow’s Vineyards: Advancing Climate Action and Social Equity in the Winegrape Industry” was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant 21SCBPCA1110. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.

About Napa Green

Napa Green is a leading sustainable winegrowing program that offers the opportunity for comprehensive, Soil to Bottle third-party certification of vineyards and wineries. Napa Green members practice regenerative carbon farming, save energy and water, prevent waste and implement environmentally preferable purchasing, use renewable energy, and enhance social equity, justice, and inclusion. Napa Green vineyards and wineries exemplify that caring of nature and community elevates quality and experience. See all Napa Green Participating Members here: https://napagreen.org/participating-members/

Making the commitment to third party certification takes time and effort, but it is worth it to demonstrate our commitment to the community and to protect our watershed, our land and the air we breathe.​

A live check in with @abrittain & @reyeswine.mw!
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🌿 Did you know that less than 3% of philanthropic donations go to environmental work? 

Please consider donating to Napa Green this giving season with one of several ways at any level! 

Head to the link in our bio for details!
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With gratitude and joy, we wish you a beautiful day & start to the holiday season from all of us at Team Green! 

- Ben, Meghan, Anna, Marissa, Sierra & Megan
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‘If not here, where? If not now, when?’ 

“The onus is on us as a world class wine growing region to be leaders in sustainability & climate action.” 

- Executive Director of Napa Green, Anna Brittain
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It’s been a big week at Napa Green and we want to take a moment to raise a glass to salute you all. 

We are overjoyed to see so much support and invigorated interest in our mission towards sustainable practices and regenerative agriculture in the wine industry. 

We have many more details, paired with educational & financial resources that are already up and rolling on our website. We will continue to share them all, one by one and in great detail here on socials as well. 

For now please plan on joining us at our upcoming Town Hall meeting on Dec 7th at @stsupery. You can find more details at napagreen.org. 

Cheers and Happy Friday Napa Valley. We are so proud to be a part of this amazing community!
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⚠️ Important Announcement 

Napa Green becomes the first sustainable wine growing certification to require the phaseout of Round Up. 

Please find the link in our bio for the full press release and full suite of info & grower resources. 

Join us on December 7th for our Napa Green Town Hall at @stsupery.
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Don’t miss the awe-inspiring @nikki_silvestri at @dominusestatewinery on Nov 30th!
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You’re invited to join us for a very special day at @dominusestatewinery on November 30th. 

We’ll be briefly interviewing our speaker @nikki_silvestri right here on Instagram today at 2:00pm PST to hear more about what to expect at this event. See you then.
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Curious to learn more? Join us at @dominusestatewinery on November 30th for a rare event and luncheon. Link in bio for details.
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GREEN is the new black this season!! 

Head to the link in our bio now and get your shirts, help a good cause and be an honorary part of Team Green this season! 💚
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Let’s hear it for our Executive Director of Napa Green, the incomparable Anna Brittain for being named a 2023 Wine Industry Leader by @winebusinessmonthly!! 

In their Sustainability Stewards section (which we love to see) we find Anna named in good company with inspired fellow leaders! 

Head to our stories or the link in our bio for free access to the full November issue. 

Cheers to the great work of our visionary Director Anna Brittain!!
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Drink Green this Halloween! 💚
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Sierra is our Soil & Climate Specialist at Napa Green and her ask this year is that everyone consider donating to our small but mighty Team Green for Giving Season! 

Here is more from @regenwithsierra: 

“🎃 Happy Halloween Eve everyone! Today is my birthday, and I would be beyond thrilled if you would consider a donation to @napagreen to support a nonprofit focused on climate action in the wine industry 🍷🍾

@napagreen has the leading set of standards for sustainable practices, from soil to bottle. I am most proud of the work we do with winegrape growers to adopt regenerative agricultural practices in their vineyards. 

Please consider supporting us in our mission!  Click the link in bio for more! “
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Thank you for having us @visitnapavalley! We had a great time talking to visitors about the many sustainability practices our Napa Green wineries and vineyards employ! 

Stop into the Visit Napa Valley Visitor Center in Napa to learn more!
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