Following its recognition for excellence in environmental work with the Green Medal Award, Domaine CHANDON California held an interactive, “Rooted in Sustainability” panel on April 11, discussing the winery’s work with regenerative agriculture and kicking off its Earth Day weekend celebration.
The panel was held outside under a group of oak trees, reflecting the winery’s 3:1 replanting policy for biodiversity restoration and oak plantings; since 2023, the winery has planted 1,500 oaks. Panelists included CHANDON Viticulturist Margarita Postoronca, Napa Green Executive Director Anna Brittain, Spottswoode’s Global Sales and Environmental Manager Molly Sheppard and Janna Olson, founder and coach, Regenerative Vines Consulting.
CHANDON, part of the LVMH family of wines and luxury goods, has long been a proponent of sustainable and environmentally-friendly farming practices and has several related certifications, including Fish Friendly Farming and Napa Green Vineyard and Napa Green Winery certified, just to name a few.
In kicking off the panel, Postoronca asked audience members to raise their hand if they’ve thought about regenerative farming in the context of what’s happening in the ground below their feet. Several people raised their hands.
“I do want to acknowledge that everybody here should really raise a glass to themselves because the latest study across the United States indicating how many of us even have heard the term regenerative agriculture was just released two weeks ago,” Olson said. “And we are up from a whopping 4% of our population in 2023, to 6.8% right now, so you’re in a very unique percentile. And of course, we’re in California—innovation oriented.”
While the average American may not be as familiar with regenerative farming concepts, more and more wineries in California and Napa are taking up regenerative ag practices as well as sustainable initiatives. According to Napa Green, 40% of California certified sustainable wineries are Napa County wineries. Additionally, when driving down Silverado Trail or Highway 29, one may notice the bevy of Napa Green Vineyard and Napa Green Winery-certified wineries. Other regions such as Paso Robles are also embracing regenerative farming with the One Block Challenge where vintners are encouraged to trial regenerative farming on one vineyard block (don’t miss the May issue of WineBusiness Monthly where ‘Trials & Troubleshoots’ feature author Bryan Avila provides details on the process and the results of the pilot One Block Challenge at Robert Hall Winery led by Caine Thompson of O’Neill Vintners & Distillers).
The Principles of Regenerative Ag
In a nutshell, the basic principles of regenerative farming practices include keeping soils covers with cover crops to retain moisture and prevent erosion, minimizing soil disturbance, maintaining living roots, maximizing plant diversity and integrating livestock to help with soil health and nutrients and weed control.
In other words, “It’s about building a healthy ecosystem in our soils to feed the future and creating a system that works with nature, but not against it,” Postoronca said.
Brittain likened building a healthy soil ecosystem to building a strong human immune system that can better defend against foreign invaders like diseases or other threats like extreme heat.
To improve soil health the winery has implemented composting, cover cropping and sheep grazing.
To bolster biodiversity, CHANDON has planted 8.9 hectares (around 21.99 acres) of green hedge throughout its vineyards, installed owl, bat and blue jay boxes to attract beneficial predators, established bee boxes to facilitate the pollination of wild flora, and planted oak trees throughout.
Conserving water is also a top priority for the winery with automated irrigation tech in use and real-time moisture monitoring on 257 vineyard acres as well as the use of drought-tolerant rootstocks. In addition, according to the Green Medal Awards announcement published April 4, “over 80% of the water used in their vineyards is recycled, ensuring efficiency without compromising vine health.”
In helping reduce its carbon emissions, the winery has achieved a 10% emissions reduction by developing lightweight glass for sparkling wine from 900g to 835g per bottle, a significant achievement considering how difficult it is to lightweight glass destined for bubbles programs when sturdier, heavier glass is typically necessary.
They’ve also installed solar panels over the years, producing an average of 1,340 MWh per year, have switched to a fleet of electric tractors and company cars, and added charging stations.
Waste reduction has also been a goal and to help achieve that, CHANDON recycles its corks which find a second life as home insulation. Label webbing is recycled into new resources and a pallet sharing program ensures that shipping pallets are re-purposed instead of heading to landfill. Crown caps and bidules are also separated in order to be recycled, and kitchen waste is fed to the property chickens or composted for maximum use.
For all these comprehensive efforts, CHANDON received the Green Medal’s Environment Award, which is given to the vineyard or winery that best demonstrates excellence in environmental stewardship.
Spottswoode has also been a leader in sustainability and was also a Green Medal Award winner this year, getting recognized for its leadership in sustainability with the Leader Award. This honor is awarded to a winery/vineyard that excels in the three E’S of sustainability: Environmentally sound, socially Equitable and Economically viable practices.
During the panel, Postoronca asked Sheppard of Spottswoode what are some key practices that she’s seen in the valley when it comes to sustainable and or regenerative farming.
She cited the use of animals and cover cropping.
“We’re seeing it everywhere,” she said. “You’ll drive down 29 and see mustard, you’ll see flowers, you’ll see a lot of beautiful growth, and we’re starting to shift that paradigm of what beauty is. I think a lot of people historically might have thought of beauty as… very manicured systems, and now it’s just this really beautiful acceptance of what nature looks like, and it’s not perfect. It should be a little messy and it should be a little overgrown, and that means beauty.”
To learn more about regenerative viticulture, click here. To learn more about all the Green Medal winners, click here.
In the aforementioned Green Medal Awards announcement, Allison Jordan, executive director of the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, said of the Green Medal winners, “As the California Green Medal enters its second decade, this year’s winners exemplify leadership and innovation in sustainable winegrowing.”
About Napa Green: The Napa Green 501c3 is a global leader in sustainable winegrowing, setting the highest bar for sustainability and climate action in the wine industry. Napa Green facilitates whole system soil to bottle certification for wineries and vineyards, and provides the expertise, boots-on-the-ground support, and resources to continually improve. Learn more at https://napagreen.org/participating-members/.
Anna Brittain
Napa Green
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Join Sommelier and Vintner, Meghan Vergara as she visits three @napagreen certified wineries, @chimneyrockwinery, @bcellars and @boeschenvineyards in this captivating Terroir of Place and People Itinerary.
“Sustainability is a beautiful way of life and business. These whole systems, regenerative practices are as essential and unique as the terroir we pride ourselves on here in Napa Valley… it’s truly inspiring to travel to different wineries and taste the fruits of their labor, to see all the hard work and distinct passion in what these wineries & vineyards do.” - @mvino1
#sustainablewine #wineindustry #winetasting #winecountry #winelover #ecotravel #foodandwine #visitnapa #visitnapavalley #sommelier
The @napagreen Winery program launched in 2008, prompting Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, who spoke at the launch event hosted by @napavintners, to observe, “I’ve been at this for 30 years and this is the best, most well-thought-out program I’ve ever seen.”
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Announcing two unprecedented “Fine and Rare Wines” donations to @christieswine will benefit @napagreen, the region’s leading sustainability and climate action nonprofit.
This incredible auction includes:
🍇 A remarkable 40-Bottle Vertical of @spottswoodewinery Cabernet Sauvignon donated by the @spottswoode_ceo family plus an invitation to attend Spottswoode’s Annual Vertical Tasting
🍇 A unique 19-Magnum Vertical of @opusonewinery Vintages 2001-2019 donated and signed by @opus_one_winemaker plus an Opus One Harvest Experience for four
The auction opens September 4 and runs through September 18.
We are so grateful to these two champion members for this incredibly generous donation.
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This harvest, we’re celebrating 21 years of @napagreen, and the community leaders who have pioneered sustainability and climate action with us from the beginning.
The @napavintners (NVV) launched the Napa Green Winery program in 2008, and Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard joined as a keynote speaker, saying, “I’ve been at this for 30 years and this is the best, most well-thought-out program I’ve ever seen.“
Let’s raise a glass to the founding members certified as Climate Smart Napa Green Wineries, continuing to lead the industry.
#wineindustry #winebusiness #environmentalstewardship #climateaction #sustainablewine #winetasting
The regional Napa Valley delegation for the Great Wine Capitals is now accepting nominations for the 2026 Best of Wine Tourism Regional Awards.
Don’t forget to submit your @napagreen certified winery for the Best of Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices!
Submission Deadline: September 1, 2025
#sustainablewine #ecotourism #sustainablewinery #climatesmartwine
Did you know that Napa Green is 21 years old? We want to celebrate and thank the community leaders who joined in from the beginning, and who have continued along the path of sustainability and climate action.
The @napavintners (NVV) stewarded @napagreen for its first fifteen years, and it is thanks to their vision and the leadership of these key founding members that Napa Green is still here to support growers and vintners in being the change in our community and industry.
Timeline: Napa Green Land was established in 2004. Napa Green Winery was established in 2008. The Land program ended in 2021, replaced by the new regenerative Napa Green Vineyard program.
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What is Napa Green? Watch to find out! ⬆️
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That’s a wrap on Cheers to Climate Smart Wines, but you can continue to visit our amazing participating wineries to taste their delicious climate smart wines!
@spottswoodewinery
@mummsparkling
@phiferpavittwine
@domainecarneros
@etudewines
@chimneyrockwinery
@mvinowines
@pineridgewine
@chandonusa
@rutherfordhillwinery
@cliffamily
@tressabores
@beringervyds
@vsattui
@frankfamilyvineyards
@seaveyvineyard
Want more climate smart wines? Visit our website for a complete list of certified members and follow along for more itineraries.
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🍷 Our last itinerary for Cheers to Climate Smart Wines and it’s a good one! Thank you @frankfamilyvineyards, @aubergedusoleil & @seaveyvineyard!
Follow this itinerary for a stunning day in Napa!
Book your tastings at @napagreen certified @chimneyrockwinery @etudewines and @domainecarneros and stay at the luxurious @carnerosresort for a day that will delight all of your senses!
#visitnapa #winetasting #winetastings #winelover #sustainablewine #wineandfood #winecountry #winecountryliving
If you missed last night’s amazing climate smart wine tasting @klwines you can join us tonight Thursday, July 24 for another great lineup of @napagreen certified wineries @dominusestatewinery @chimneyrockwinery @domainecarneros and @beringervyds
You won’t want to miss this! Ticket link in bio.
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📍Phifer Pavitt Wines in Calistoga!
A gorgeous family winery & vineyard that goes above and beyond in climate smart practices and quality of wine! 🍷
Can’t make it to Napa? Experience climate smart wines @klwines in downtown San Fransisco.
Join us Wednesday, July 23, 2025 to taste wines from @napagreen certified members @spottswoodewinery @pineridgewine @etudewines and @frankfamilyvineyards
You won’t want to miss this! Ticket link in bio.
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Come join us this week at @klwines!! Tickets can be found at the link in our bio. Cheers! 🍷
😍 This one is a gem! Book your tastings at Napa Green Certifed @mummsparkling & @spottswoodewinery and enjoy a stay at the incredible @solageauberge!
Sustainability & Luxury truly make a great pairing. Cheers to Climate Smart Wines! 🍷
🎙️: @mvino1
⚠️ Don’t sleep on this one! Get your $15 tickets to taste INCREDIBLE wines from @spottswoodewinery, @dominusestatewinery, @chimneyrockwinery and many more at @klwines in San Francisco on July 23rd & 24th!
You know where to go ➡️ link in bio or www.napagreen.org. See you there! 🍷