Over the past month there are times I’ve felt powerless – both against the forces of nature and how to help all of those impacted. I wish Napa Green could do more to help our community, our industry, and our members as we recover from these fires. It has been a challenging time personally, as my mother’s home burned down in Deer Park (photo below), and she also lost a home in the 2017 Tubbs Fire.

 

At the same time it is inspiring to see our community band together and push forward. Napa Valley wines continue to be made even where fire damage extends right up to the doorstep, and amidst all of the uncertainty of smoke taint. I am reminded that as our Napa Green members take climate action and build climate resilience it doesn’t just benefit our businesses and region, it sets an example for the broader wine and beverage industry. This is part of why we are looking forward to rolling out our new Napa Green Vineyard certification standards early next year, focused on climate action, regenerative agriculture and social equity.

 

This newsletter includes services you may want to take advantage of in the coming weeks and months – free irrigation efficiency assessments from the RCD, Irrigation Hose and Hazardous Waste collection days, solar cleaning if your panels are covered in soot and ash.

 

This newsletter also highlights an important change for our Napa Green Winery program. To support the work of ensuring the Napa Valley wine industry operates as sustainably as possible and provide you with the resources to meet your stewardship goals, the Winery program is evolving. As you know, in January 2020 Napa Green became an independent nonprofit. When Napa Green was under the umbrella of the NVV all certification services were offered free of charge, but with this important organizational shift Napa Green needs to adopt a certification fee structure comparable to other sustainable winegrowing programs. These fees will cover a portion of the staff time that goes into facilitating certification, annual desk audits, re-certification and interim assistance. We will be rolling out annual fees in April 2021, with discounts for existing members and those directly impacted by the fires.