NAPA GREEN NEWS

  • NAPA GREEN NEWSLETTER |

Hello Napa Green Community,

It sounds like we can be cautiously optimistic that wineries will be able to begin reopening their doors to guests in the next few weeks. Ushering in visitors while implementing new protocols is going to require adaptation and ingenuity but I know all of us can’t wait for tasting rooms to be open again. On that note, see the announcement below that we are launching a quarterly Napa Green Ambassadors training to help your hospitality and sales staff share your sustainability story and leverage your Napa Green certification.

To do our part in trying to drive sales and engagement at your wineries during this crisis we built a Member Offers & Events page, which we have been advertising on social media. We have been spotlighting your virtual tastings, shipping offers and other discounts. We plan to keep this active moving forward so if you have an offer or event you would like us to include please reach out to events@napagreen.org.

Even with social distancing the community still banded together to celebrate Down to Earth Month and the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day in April. We loved seeing all of the social media posts from members spotlighting environmental stewardship and sustainability practices, and sharing on a personal level why caring for our little corner of the earth and conserving resources really matters. Let’s keep using those hashtags to spread the message: #napagreen, #ournature, #itsfromnapa.

Earth Day Napa was converted to an online platform and Napa Green organized an online wine auction to raise funds for the Environmental Education Coalition of Napa County. Huge THANK YOU to our nine Napa Green members who donated 15 wines lots and helped us raise $3,099 for environmental education. These funds will support the Darcy Aston Scholarship, given to graduating high school students planning to study an environmental field, and the Field Trip Bus grant, which provides vital funding to teachers for environmental field trips.

I was recently up at Newton Vineyards picking up their donation and snagged this shot of the valley. The grapes keep growing and the beauty of this place persists. I am grateful for that.
 

Sincerely, 

 

Anna Brittain, Executive Director, Napa Green

Logo on Bottle

Become a Napa Green Ambassador

We want to engage with your hospitality and sales staff and help them feel comfortable and excited about sharing your sustainability story and Napa Green certification. That is why we have designed the Napa Green Ambassador training. 
 
We are offering a few front end opportunities for team members to participate in these trainings as we launch the Napa Green Tasting Passport. Ultimately, we will be offering the Napa Green Ambassador training quarterly, and ideally we will begin offering these workshops in person so we can share experiences, ideas and do some group exercises.
 
The Napa Green Ambassador training will cover:
 
  • What is sustainability, and how is it different from organic?
  • What is Napa Green? What does it mean to be “soil to bottle” certified?
  • Evidence customers want this information and will use it in their travel and purchase decisions.
  • Examples of sustainability- and nature-based stories and customer engagement from Napa Green members and other certified sustainable wineries.
  • Butterflies, bees, birds and other beneficial and charismatic creatures.
  • Ideas and tips for effective social media and web content.
  • Using existing and new data collection to show the value of sharing sustainability stories and inform communications strategies.
 
Download the full event flier and share with your team. 
Napa Green Passport

Napa Green Tasting Passport

We are so excited that on June 1st we will going live with our Napa Green Tasting Passport: Exceptional Wines from Responsible Wineries Where Caring for Nature Elevates Quality and Experience 
 
The Passport will be valid beginning ASAP in June and will likely run for the remainder of 2020. It couldn’t come at a better time as we begin to rebuild tourism and encourage the drive market to celebrate the end of quarantine in the Napa Valley. 
 
3% for the Community: 3% of Passport profits will be invested in local stewardship, sustainability and social equity causes. 
 
Participating Napa Green Wineries: Beringer Vineyards | Cakebread Cellars | Chimney Rock Winery | Clif Family Winery | Clos Du Val | Conn Creek Winery | Domaine Chandon | Etude Wines | Handwritten Wines | Honig Vineyard and Winery | Jessup Cellars | Newton Vineyard | Provenance Vineyards | Rutherford Hill Winery | Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars | Sterling Vineyards | St. Supéry Estate Winery | Tres Sabores Winery
 
Together we will be adding to the growing evidence that sustainability and caring for nature can and does help sell wines and build customer engagement and loyalty. A 2018 Nielsen study found 2% growth for mainstream products but 5% growth for sustainable products. A 2019 NYU Stern Center study found that from 2013-2018 50% of sales growth for consumer packaged goods came from sustainability-marketed products; sustainable product sales have grown 5.6 times faster than their conventional counterparts. 
 
Ultimately, we hope to add offers from farm-to-table restaurants and hotels offering a blend of luxury and sustainability.
Wine-in-Tanks

New Napa Green Integrated Resource Audit Costs

As many of you know, a core step in the process of becoming a Napa Green Winery is the “Integrated Resource Audit” – a one-stop energy, water and waste assessment. This is part of what makes the Napa Green Winery certification so unique and valuable. Other sustainable winegrowing certifications ask that wineries audit their water use, energy use and waste diversion (recycling & composting) but are not able to provide the audit service. In addition, we leverage Bill Bennett, a facility engineer with more than 30 years of experience in the beverage industry. 
 
Napa Green wineries receive a full Integrated Resource Audit at the start of certification and again every six years, with an Abbreviated Resource Audit every alternating three years as part of re-certification. These audits baseline resource metrics so wineries can track changes and improvements over time. In addition, the Audit identifies opportunities to improve energy and water efficiency (saving $$ and staff time) and increase recycling & composting. For example, Napa Green helps wineries cut their energy use by 20% or more:
 
The average baseline electricity use of a 10,000 case winery is 15 kWh/case = $3.60/ case or $1.52/gallon. 10k case winery 20% energy savings = $0.72 a case or $7,200
 
Average baseline electricity use at a 50,000 case winery is 12 kWh/case = $2.88/case or $1.22/gallon. 50k case winery 20% energy savings = $0.58 per case or $29,000
 
Average baseline electricity use at a 150,000 case winery is 7 kWh/case = $1.68/case or $0.71/gallon. 150k case winery 20% energy savings = $.34 per case or $51,000
 
Audit Costs: Up until now PG&E’s energy efficiency program has covered the energy portion of our Integrated Resource Audits, but unfortunately this funding is ending on June 30. So we do have to begin asking wineries to cover the full audit costs. This is the only cost currently associated with Napa Green Winery certification.  Please note, NVV is providing a 20% audit cost match for their members.  
 

Napa Green Resources and Champion Stories

Thinking about installing solar? Need new water meters? Wondering if you can use the Napa Green logos on your labels? Want to get a free Napa Green Certified metal sign to hang at your entrance? Visit our Napa Green Resources page for these and other resources.

Over the past five years we’ve written more than 20 feature stories spotlighting the best practices of some of our Napa Green Champion wineries. Topics include water savings, energy savings, integrating sustainability from soil to bottle, and river restoration. Read the champion stories to learn more.