About us

NAPA GREEN MISSION

Napa Green is the leading sustainable winegrowing program providing comprehensive, systematic soil to bottle certification for Napa County growers and vintners. In 2021, Napa Green was the first sustainable winegrowing program globally to completely redevelop the Vineyard certification standards to focus on climate action, regenerative carbon farming, and social equity. Our members stand as leaders exemplifying that caring for nature and community elevates quality and experience for employees, customers and community, now and in the future.

The Napa Green mission is to AIM high through: 

A

Adoption of the rigorous Napa Green Vineyard and Winery certification standards

I

Impact, both regionally and by leveraging Napa Green and Napa County’s powerful platform, to influence adoption of leading sustainability and climate action practices in the global wine industry and beverage sector

M

Measurement by baselining and tracking ongoing performance for water and energy use, waste diversion, and Scope 1 & 2 emissions from the vineyard into the winery. 

NAPA GREEN VALUES

Leadership, Stewardship, Authenticity, Collaboration, Impact, Resilience, Regeneration

NAPA GREEN community

PORTO PROTOCOL

Napa Green supports the The Porto Protocol on its principles to mitigate climate change effects. With this communication, we express our intent to implement those principles. We are committed to making The Porto Protocol and its principles part of the
strategy, culture and day-to-day operations of our company, and to engaging in collaborative projects which advance the broader development goals of The Porto Protocol, particularly in sharing with others our good practices and results obtained with the implementation of solutions and actions that we have taken to mitigate the total impact of our activity on the environment.

COMMITMENT TO RACIAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

At Napa Green we pledge to continuously examine and deepen our understanding of power imbalances and social biases in our everyday world.

We commit to take action whenever possible to build a more just community, and partner with individuals and organizations that share this commitment. We seek to be a visible ally and take public positions not only on social inequities and injustices within our industry and community, but also within the broader social justice movement.

1% FOR THE PLANET

Napa Green is a nonprofit partner with 1% for the Planet, an international organization whose members contribute at least one percent of their annual sales to environmental causes. 1% for the Planet approved nonprofit partners are carefully vetted environmental organizations that are eligible to receive funding from their members. 

Businesses and individuals can support Napa Green and other non-profits dedicated to addressing issues surrounding climate, food, land, pollution, water, and wildlife through 1% for the Planet.

Diversity in Wine Leadership Forum

The Diversity in Wine Leadership Forum is a central resource for the wine community to connect and work with organizations with a core commitment to diversity and equity. Diversity occurs through the intersection of gender, race, ability, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic status, language, and age.

Organizations with a commitment to diversity recognize that these social categories create overlapping systems that can disadvantage or discriminate against individuals and groups in differing ways. Having a core commitment to diversity means seeking to open doors to more people, creating easier access to resources for success, and not only including but welcoming people of diverse backgrounds and experience

Organizations with a commitment to equity seek to increase access to resources needed for inclusion and success to more diverse people and groups; uncover and undo root causes of disparity within our industry; promote justice, impartiality, and fairness in these ways; and ultimately seek to include more diversity at the decision-making levels of the wine industry.

NAPA GREEN TEAM

Anna Sq

ANNA BRITTAIN | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Anna has worked locally, nationally and internationally on environmental management and policy with organizations ranging from the environmental economics think tank Resources for the Future in Washington, DC to the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Hanoi, Vietnam. She has spent a decade facilitating and growing sustainability in the wine industry, with an expertise in communications and certification standards. Anna has served as a lead sustainability consultant with Ontario Craft Wineries, Sustainable Winegrowing British Columbia, Crimson Wine Group, the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, and individual wineries including Benziger Family Winery and Seghesio Family Vineyards. Voted Most Intriguing Environmentalist, she has helped lead the growth of the Napa Green program since 2015, and stepped into the position of Executive Director of the now independent non-profit in fall 2019. Anna has a Master’s of Environmental Science & Management from the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara and a BA in Political Science and Environmental Studies from Williams College.
Megan Sq

MEGAN SCOTT | Winery program manager

Megan started her sustainability journey working at The Last Resort, an environmental model of sustainable living, whose mission is to discover and perfect sustainable environmental solutions for waste management, water reuse, and food security. From there, she studied Engineering and worked in the Hospitality Industry for over 20 years, streamlining operations and working to reduce waste and improve profitability. Megan has demonstrated her ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship by professionally facilitating sustainability conversations in the international hospitality industry through blogs, public speaking presentations, trainings and webinars featuring green business practices. Megan is dedicated in guiding businesses toward a more sustainable future. She holds an MBA, Sustainable Business Enterprises from Dominican University, and a BS in Marketing as well as a BS in Management from Sonoma State University.
Ben sq

Ben Mackie | vineyard program manager

For the past 15 years, Ben has been designing and implementing regenerative farming systems in a variety of ecosystems. A New Englander by birth, Ben fell in love with agriculture in the verdant fields of northern California in high school. Ever since, Ben has been managing farms, improving soils, and educating the next crop of environmental stewards with a holistic view of farming with natural systems. No stranger to Napa, he previously lived on Mt Veeder, where he fell in love with the oak and madrone woodlands and made friends with the local ravens. When Ben is not helping Napa’s vineyards adopt 21st century practices, he is spending time with his impressive wife and two wild children in the woods and on the water. Ben currently occupies Nisenan Territory and is a proud alumnus of Sterling College in Northeast Vermont, where he received a BA in Sustainable Agriculture.

Sierra Minchaca | Climate & Soil Specialist

Sierra was first captivated by the natural world with help from her grandfather who has grown the most spectacular garden she’s ever known. This inspiration developed into a career path in the field of natural resource management beginning in 2013 when Sierra first joined the City of Napa’s Recycling Division where she helped usher in city-wide composting residentially and in our schools. She worked this job while studying for her B.S. in Conservation & Resource Studies from UC Berkeley where she had the opportunity to take a course on Agroecology that shifted her direction into agriculture. She started with an 85-hour permaculture design course in Oakland that inspired a career shift into viticulture. After a diverse array of experiences, Sierra found a greater calling to return to the Napa Valley to work alongside leaders for climate resiliency. When she is not working with growers to help them achieve their climate action goals, Sierra devotes her time toward training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and petting every cat she encounters.

Marisa Taylor | Program Coordinator

Growing up in wine country, it was only natural that Marisa became an early proponent of sustainability practices in Napa Valley. During her tenure as winemaker and general manager of Rutherford Hill Winery she supported sustainable farming and green practices from vineyard to cellar and across all winemaking operations. During that time she successfully obtained Napa Green Winery Certification which included the installation and conversion to solar powered energy throughout the facility. She was a featured winemaker in the 6 part PBS series Vintage 2012 and currently serves on the 2nd cohort of the Napa Valley Vintners Leadership Program. With a B.S. in Chemistry and a M.S. in Food Science from the University of California at Davis, she brings both a wealth of knowledge to her work as well as compassion, respect and stewardship for the land. Known for her compatible work style, authenticity and leadership abilities, Marisa looks forward to her continued collaboration with wineries across the valley which are united in pursuing and upholding the Napa Green mission.

Meghan Vergara | Social media manager

Meghan Vergara joins Napa Green with experience as a Vintner, Certified Sommelier, and oenophile having studied business at Ohio State University and Marketing at UC Davis. Meghan runs both Veritas Consultants, offering social media and marketing services to world class wine brands in Napa Valley and beyond, as well as her own label M Rosé. A main objective of to her recent return to her roots in Napa Valley was to become involved in sustainability efforts which she is thrilled to fulfill with Napa Green!

Bill Bennett | Winery Program Engineer

Bill Bennett is trained and licensed as a Civil Engineer, and draws on decades of experience with commercial and industrial resource use to help Napa County wineries understand, manage, and reduce energy and water use. Beginning in 2016, Bill led the design and facilitation of “Integrated Resource Audits” for wineries seeking Napa Green Winery certification or recertification. These one-stop, user friendly energy, water and waste evaluations baseline and track resource efficiency over time and provide targeted recommendations for both cost and resource savings. With more than 160 reviews to date, Bill has developed a broad portfolio of operational guidance and recommendations which have helped Napa Green wineries save more than $4 million in energy costs and over 27 million gallons of water (as of July 2021).

Prior to joining Napa Green, Bill was a key team member at Sustainable Napa County (SNC) where he designed and implemented a county-wide energy efficiency program for commercial customers of PG&E (Napa County Energy Watch). Prior to SNC, Bill was the Resident Engineer for the Anheuser-Busch InBev Fairfield brewery, where he led successful and innovative energy efficiency changes at this $500 million facility including 1 MW of ground mount tracking solar, 1.5 MW wind turbine, anaerobic digestion, upgrades and automation of compressed air, boilers, and ammonia refrigeration systems, making it a beacon for energy conservation in an industry, with production issues very similar to those of the winemaking community.

NAPA GREEN BOARD OF DIRECTORS

HAILEY TREFETHEN
Board chair

Viticulture & Winemaking Operations, Trefethen Family Vineyards

Evyn Cameron

Consulting Winemaker

Michelle Novi
Board Secretary

Industry Relations and Regulatory Affairs Director, Napa Valley Vintners

Linsey Gallagher

President & CEO, Visit Napa Valley

Dan Petroski
Board Treasurer

Winemaker, Massican Winery and Board Member, Napa Valley Grapegrowers

MARTIN REYES, MW

Partner, WineWise; Founder, Reyes Wine Group and Co-Founder, Wine Unify

Chris Benz

Napa Climate NOW! and Sierra Club Napa Group

TOD MOSTERO

Director of Viticulture & Winemaking at Dominus Estate

Molly Sheppard

Assistant Winemaker & Environmental Manager at Spottswoode Estate Vineyard & Winery

NAPA GREEN community advisors

John Garn

President, ViewCraft 

Jeri Hansen

Principal, Jeri Hansen Company

Frances Knapczyk

Program Director, Napa County Resource Conservation District

Miguel Garcia

Sustainable Agriculture Program Manager, Napa County Resource Conservation District

JAIME ARAUJO

Sustainable Agriculture Program Manager, Napa County Resource Conservation District

Gregory Brun

Owner, Napa Valley Wine Train

Rob Anglin

Attorney, Holman Teague Roche Anglin, LLP

Joel Quigley

President, Creative Furnace LLC and Director of Marketing Communications at Lloyd Cellars & Prescription Vineyards

Will Drayton

Director Technical Viticulture, Sustainability & Research at Treasury Wine Estates