RISE Climate & Wine Symposium Activates 750 Guests and Raises $75,000 for Industry Climate Action Implementation

NAPA, Calif.April 27, 2023 – The RISE Climate & Wine Symposium was an immense success, with over 750 guests across the six events, including more than 60 leading speakers and 40 “Sustainable Services & Solutions” sponsors and partners. This is the second year of Napa Green’s Symposium. During each event Executive Director Anna Brittain appealed to the audience, “Please commit to at least one action, one result, that you will take from this event.” Commit they did, with dozens of industry leaders sharing planned actions. At the final “Climate Action & Regenerative Agriculture” event on April 20 the audience of over 150 guests all stood and said their commitments aloud.

Commitments included exploring the use of kegs in the tasting room at Sterling Vineyards and Brooks Wine (Willamette Valley). Jason Haas of Tablas Creek shared that shifting to kegs had a payback of just 18 months. Others committed to lighten glass weight, and track energy and water use, recognizing the energy cost to transport, heat and treat water. We can’t manage what we don’t measure. There were also commitments to achieve Napa Green Winery and Vineyard certification.

“Validation by Napa Green is not a one and done certification,” notes Michael Silacci, Winemaker at Opus One Winery. “The bar is constantly being raised to coax wineries and growers to reach greater heights. The standards are set for leaders in the industry.”

Marquee speaker Maryam Ahmed shared that last year’s symposium introduced her to Heather Paulsen Consulting, who donated services to assist Maryam+Company in achieving B Corp certification, which was announced this month.

Jim Gordon, Senior Editor of The Wine Enthusiast, attended the final event. “I was activated at RISE and realized I could be doing more. I am committing to writing more about climate action and spotlighting bottle weight and other opportunities.”

Social equity is often sidelined in sustainability conversations. Nikki Silvestri (Soil and Shadow) and Tod Mostero (Dominus Estate) had a mentorship conversation exploring what cultivating farm biodiversity can teach us about consistently cultivating diversity in the workplace. Silvestri observed, “Fertility is increasing the complexity of relationships in the system.” Mostero committed to create a “brain trust” – a defined space for diverse and safe feedback.

In concert with the RISE events, Napa Green partnered with champion members Spottswoode Estate, Chimney Rock Winery, and Boisset Collection to host a series of intimate wine benefit dinners. The dinners raised a $75,000 pool of matching funds to support industry sustainability and climate action projects for those with the greatest financial need. Examples include a compost:biochar application; planting a hedgerow; shifting to lightweight glass and “green” packaging.

“One of the greatest challenges we all face is inertia,” says Brittain. “These grants will facilitate change. Evidence shows once you take one action you’re more likely to take another.” The call for applications will open in summer/fall.

During her Marquee address Ahmed incited the audience: “You have to do it to evolve it and you can’t evolve without feedback and involving others. Invite as many people as possible into finding solutions, making change. And take action now, with urgency.”

RISE is about building the relationships and partnerships, and critically, providing the support, to act with urgency and set the industry bar for climate action leadership. If you missed any of the impact-oriented content, recordings of the six events will soon be publicly available on www.RISEGreen.org.

A huge thanks to event host Charles Krug Winery, all of our sponsors, volunteers, the Planning Committee, and the incredible Napa Green team.

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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