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Listen to the recordings from this half day event on how to save energy and energy efficiency in wineries and vineyards.
Thank you to our exclusive event sponsor MCE.
MCE is a not-for-profit, public agency that has been setting the standard for clean energy in California since 2010. MCE offers 60-100% renewable power at stable rates, significantly reducing greenhouse emissions and reinvesting millions in local programs.
Join Remi Cohen, CEO and Stacey Ellis, Capital Projects Manager at Domaine Carneros in a live conversation with mentee Jon Priest, Senior Winemaker & General Manager at Etude, about key considerations, needs and first steps to create a combined solar & battery microgrid. Microgrids generate onsite renewable energy, shave peak loads, can keep the winery running during power shutoffs and outages, reduce electricity and diesel use and cost, and build operational and financial resilience. Remi and Stacey will share insights and lessons learned in installing their new microgrid and help their mentee develop an initial plan of action.
Remi Cohen | CEO at Domaine Carneros
Remi Cohen joined the Domaine Carneros family as CEO in 2020, bringing with her a diverse, over twenty-year track record of experience in all facets of the fine wine business, from sustainable vineyard management and winemaking to sales, marketing, and brand development. The role brings Cohen’s career full circle, for it’s in Carneros where it all began.
Cohen is also a certified sommelier, which makes her adept at providing luxurious and educational hospitality experiences. She served as the President of the Stags Leap District Winegrowers Association for five years and was previously a Board Member of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers Association. Cohen was recognized as one of Wine Enthusiast’s 40 Under 40 in 2015 as a tastemaker and influencer in Napa
Valley. She resides in Napa and enjoys traveling to wine regions around the world, sampling diverse cultures and cuisines, and loves dance, hiking, yoga and world music.
Stacey Ellis | Capital Projects Manager Domaine Carneros Winery
Stacey has worked for Domaine Carneros for twenty-four years in numerous winemaking and facilities roles, most recently as Capital Projects Manager. She was the Sustainability Team Lead for many years and assisted in the sustainable certification of the winery and vineyard through Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing, Bay Area Green Business, and the Napa Green programs. With the increased threats of power disruption from wildfires, earthquakes and other power outage events, she researched the feasibility and logistics of a Microgrid and in December 2019 the decision was made to install a Microgrid at the winery. Stacey has worked closely with Powerflex/EDF Renewables on the Microgrid installed at the winery.
Jon Priest | Senior Winemaker & General Manager at Etude
For almost two decades, Priest has crafted Etude wines with a simple creed. “Pinot Noir exhibits true transparency to the land and conditions where it is grown, and that careful and attentive winegrowing and winemaking is necessary to capture this sense of place in the glass. Understanding soil types, microclimates, and how to be the very best steward of the land is also key to preserving our community, our ecosystem and our vineyard for generations,” he says.
In addition to being a winemaker, Priest is among an elite group of California equestrians who compete in racing events covering great distances over legendary trails once crossed by earlier pioneers. Today, it’s not uncommon to spot him trail running or riding on horseback through Etude’s Carneros Estate Vineyards, keeping a close eye on the vines.
EV Tractor Charging w/MCE & Solectrac: Chris Kubik, Senior Business Development Manager at MCE, will share what it takes to install EV chargers and available rebates and incentives. Can these rebates be used for fleet chargers? Yes, they can. Steve Heckeroth, Chief Innovation Officer and Chairman of the Board at Solectrac, will share their EV tractor, talk about how they are charged, and how this ties into rebates and incentives.
Carbon Capture w/Earthly Labs: Curious about carbon capture off of fermentation tanks, and market resale? Join Amy George, President at Earthly Labs, as she shares the how and why of carbon capture, and pilots with Trefethen Family Vineyards and Opus One Winery.
Chris Kubik | Senior Business Development Manager at (MCE)
Chris works directly with MCE’s service area key commercial customers and business partners. Chris helps energy customers evaluate and adopt the MCE commercial programs and services that will help them ensure that they achieve their energy, financial, and sustainability objectives for their organizations and stakeholders.
Chris brings 15 years of customer engagement experience in demand side clean energy technologies and services to MCE. Prior to joining the Public Affairs team at MCE in May 2015, Chris worked in the renewable energy programs group at Constellation Energy and was an early member of the California team at EnerNOC (acquired by Enel) starting in 2007. At these companies, she helped some of California’s largest energy customers make decisions about demand response, energy efficiency, energy storage, and other demand side services. Prior to that, Chris worked in the technology industry in strategic alliances and international business development in both California and in Europe.
Steve Heckeroth |Founder And Chief Innovation Officer at Solectrac Inc.
Steve is an expert in designing, fabricating and building electric tractors and vehicles. His experience spans over 40 years in the renewable energy industry. He worked as the Director of Building Integrated Photovoltaics for the largest thin-film solar manufacturer in the world, designing PV roofing products from ’99 – ‘08. He contributed to several patents in the PV space. Steve founded MendoMotive and Electrac in 1993 to develop and build EVs and electric tractors. He founded Solectrac LLC in 2012 to take electric tractors into commercial production. He was the Principal Investigator in two grants completed in 2016 that moved the electric tractor closer to a commercially viable product. Steve converted the LLC to a California Benefit Corporation and Certified B-Corp in 2019. In 2021 Solectrac Inc. was acquired by Ideanomics to fund the rapid commercialization of electric tractors. Heckeroth holds several patents on electric tractor innovations and was the designer of the award winning e70N (narrow) electric vineyard tractor.
Amy George | President at Earthly Labs
Amy George is founder and President of Earthly Labs, the leading provider of carbon capture technology solutions for small scale sources. Earthly Labs is a division of Chart Industries (NYSE: GTLS), a 150 year-old leader in highly engineered industrial equipment with a mission to power the “nexus of clean” – clean water, clean air, clean energy, clean food and beverage. Earthly Labs ® provides CiCi ®carbon capture hardware, software and services to capture and monitor CO2 from small scale emissions sources with more small installations than anyone in the world. For the past 20 years, George has delivered environmental impact through her entrepreneurial leadership at diverse ventures – from artificial intelligence software that reduced industrial emissions to local farmers markets to reusable food storage that reduced waste in landfills. Featured in Forbes, CNN and Wine Spectator, her products have been awarded “Top 100 Green Products for the World.” George holds two patents with 17 pending. She has an MBA with a focus in entrepreneurship and environmental management from The University of Texas at Austin and is a mom of two boys, who are her inspiration.
Jancis Robinson, OBE, MW is one of the most knowledgeable and impactful voices in the global wine industry. She’ll share her journey on how she became an advocate for ambitious industry climate action, and why she was compelled to spotlight the impact wine packaging decisions have on our resource use, emissions and costs. On average 30-50% of winery emissions come from packaging and distribution alone. In addition, with a 360-degree perspective on sustainability leadership, Jancis & her organization have collaborated with several industry social equity initiatives both in the UK and USA. We look forward to having Jancis join us and share her call to action as we launch RISE 2023.
Emily Kern | Environmental & Sustainability Manager at Treasury Americas
Treasury Americas was awarded the RISE Leadership Award for Energy Efficiency & Savings for the breadth and depth of their work to improve operational energy efficiency, including a new, cutting edge approach to cold stabilization that will slash energy use and costs.
It is critical that we take an integrated, whole systems approach to sustainability and climate action. When you save water you save the energy to transport, heat, and treat that water, reducing costs and emissions, and helping to address one of the most critical issues of our changing climate: water availability.
Erica Löfving, Chief Sustainability Officer with Vintage Wine Estates, will lead this Salon conversation. Jay Famiglietti, Global Futures Professor in the ASU School of Sustainability and former Senior Water Scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will share the 10,000’ perspective on California’s water and energy future, including water recycling. Matt Crafton, winemaker and de facto environmental manager at Chateau Montelena Winery, and Jason Moulton, winemaker at Whitehall Lane Winery, will share their best practices and innovations around energy and water efficiency, and the resource reliability and cost benefits of these practices.
Erica Löfving | Sustainability Expert
Erica Landin-Lofving is a native of Sweden but has lived and worked in France and Germany. A stint as a harvest intern 10 years ago set her on the path to settling in sunny Santa Barbara to lead sustainability at Vintage Wine Estates. In addition to running sustainability and public ESG reporting for the group, she engages heavily with operations on environmental and social initiatives in viticulture, winemaking and packaging.
Erica has MSc in Biology and a broad background spanning from finance, international wine journalism (featured in Decanter, Condé Nast and The Wine Enthusiast), and as a sustainability consultant (including Systembolaget and the ICA grocery retail group). She never stops learning and has continuing education from UC Davis (viticulture and winemaking), UC Berkeley (Sustainable strategy and ESG), and Harvard (Sustainability Leadership), as well as being a certified ESG financial advisor. While she loves digging into numbers and solutions for water and energy use, her main message to Napa vintners is this: ditch the heavy wine bottles.
Dr. Jay Famiglietti | Global Futures Professor, Arizona State University; USask GIWS Executive Director Emeritus
Jay Famiglietti is a Global Futures Professor in the School of Sustainability, in the College of Global Futures at Arizona State University. He is Professor Emeritus from the University of Saskatchewan, where he was Executive Director of the Global Institute for Water Security, and where he held the Canada 150 Research Chair in Hydrology and Remote Sensing. He is currently advising the Silicon Valley tech startup, Waterplan, after serving as its founding Chief Scientist. Before moving to the University of Saskatchewan, he was Senior Water Scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology; he was a professor in Earth System Science and in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Irvine; and he was a professor in Geological Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.
Famiglietti and his research team use satellites to track changing water availability, and they pioneered the methods to detect groundwater depletion from space using the NASA GRACE mission. They have been working for many years towards improving hydrological prediction in climate models like those used in the IPCC. This work has driven Famiglietti’s interest in corporate water sustainability and stewardship, innovations in financial tools and data-driven reporting platforms, and international water diplomacy.
Matthew Crafton | Winemaker & Environmental Manager at Chateau Montelena Winery
Matt Crafton leads the production team as Winemaker at Chateau Montelena. He not only oversees all production and operations, but also plays a critical role in strategy, education, and technology at the winery. Starting at the very bottom in the cellar, Matt internalized the words from his father, “Smart people in the world are a dime a dozen. All you can do is control how hard you work.” Years later, after methodically building his toolbelt in wineries and vineyards on the east coast, Napa and Sonoma, Matt was hired as Enologist at Montelena upon finishing his degree in Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis in 2008. He was promoted to Winemaker in 2014.
Jason Moulton | Director of Winemaking and Viticulture for Whitehall Lane Winery
Jason Moulton is the Director of Winemaking and Viticulture for Whitehall Lane Winery. A native of Illinois, Jason made his way to New Zealand and graduated from the Lincoln University Viticulture and Enology program just outside of Christchurch. He spent a number of years making wine in the Russian River, British Columbia, New Zealand, Bordeaux, South Africa, and finally to Napa Valley, where he recently completed his 23rd harvest. Through the years, Jason has ascended the ranks from Cellar Worker to Cellar Master, Assistant Winemaker to Winemaker. Apart from winemaking, he believes wine service, wine education, and sensory are of great importance and in 2017, became a certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers. As the Director of Winemaking and Viticulture at Whitehall Lane, he oversees not only the winemaking production and vineyard management, but leads it in an effort to be environmentally sensitive and sustainable in all facets.
MCE | Chris Kubik
MCE is a not-for-profit public agency and the preferred electricity provider for more than 580,000 customer accounts and 1.5 million residents and businesses across Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, and Solano counties. Setting the standard for clean energy in California since 2010, MCE leads with 100% renewable power at stable rates, delivering a 1200 MW peak load and significantly reducing greenhouse emissions and reinvesting millions in local programs. For more information about MCE, visit mceCleanEnergy.org, or follow us on your preferred social platform @mceCleanEnergy.
Amorim Cork | PJ Awe
Amorim is recognized as a global leader in sustainable business practices. We have been publishing an annual reviewed sustainability report since 2006. By being the largest cork company in the world, we have a big responsibility to set an example for how the cork industry can improve on environmental credentials in every step of production. Being a vertically integrated company with diversification in a large number of cork businesses we have a true circular economy and strive for an industrial system that is regenerative by intention and design. We use all of the cork raw material which includes the cork dust being used as a source of energy. At Amorim, over 60% of energy needs are met by using cork (biomass), which is a CO2 neutral source of energy.
CLEAResult | Mike Gallagher & James Swinger
CLEAResult is the largest provider of energy efficiency, energy transition and decarbonization solutions in North America. Since 2003, our mission has been to change the way people use energy. Today, our experts lead the transition to a sustainable, equitable, and carbon-neutral future for our communities and our planet. Our hometown teams collaborate with a diverse network of local partners to deliver world-class technology and personalized services that make it easy for agricultural, commercial and industrial businesses, governments, utilities, and residential customers to reduce their energy use and carbon footprint. CLEAResult is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and has over 2,400 employees in more than 60 cities across the U.S. and Canada.
CLEAResult is the approved third-party implementer of the MCE Agricultural & Industrial Resource (AIR) Program serving Napa County.
Earthly Labs | Amy George
Earthly Labs, A Chart Industries Company, is the leader in small scale carbon capture technology helping leaders capture, purify, recycle, reuse and convert CO2 to avoid emissions, reduce costs, add value and drive innovation. Earthly Labs’ solution includes CiCi® CO2 capture hardware solutions, cloud-based CO2 capture monitoring software, and engineering and maintenance services. The new CO2 exchange program allows companies to capture, use, convert, and sell CO2 to create value for industries like wineries and distilleries. Earthly Labs is a division of Chart Industries, Inc. (NYSE: GTLS) is a leading independent global manufacturer of highly engineered equipment used by leaders in food and beverage, renewable energy, and space markets. Powering the Nexus of Clean™, Chart is committed to solutions that advance clean air, clean water, clean energy, and clean food and beverage. With over 25 global manufacturing locations from the United States to China, Australia, India, Europe and South America, Chart maintains a commitment its customers and the environment. To learn more, visit www.Chartindustries.com
PowerFlex | Michael Robinson
PowerFlex is a national provider of renewable energy infrastructure with a comprehensive suite of flexible, turnkey solutions designed to transform any organization into a clean-energy facility. Our scalable offerings include onsite solar, battery storage, electric vehicle charging, microgrids, and energy management systems. Whether standalone or working in concert as a bundled system, these technologies bring clean, reliable, and affordable carbon-free power when and where it is needed, helping our clients reduce their long-term energy costs, increase resiliency, and achieve sustainability goals.
SaverGlass |Tonya Edwards
Did you know that the weight of wine bottles is 40% lighter than it was 15 years ago? In fact, today, nearly 9 in 10 (87%) of 75cl wine bottles fall under the light to medium weight category.
While glass packaging is one of the most sustainable packaging materials, the industry continues to innovate in terms of technology and design to further improve its environmental impact. With extensive lightweighting efforts, bottles can be made lighter while keeping all of their qualities.
Saverglass, the world’s leading manufacturer specializing in the production and decoration of luxury and high-end glass bottles.
Solectrac Electric Tractor | Steve Heckeroth
Solectrac is the first American company to commercialize electric tractors through direct sales and its growing dealer network. Solectrac climate smart electric tractors are zero-emission, quiet and powerful and benefit not only the environment but also the health of the agricultural work force by eliminating exposure to exhaust and reducing noise. Solectrac tractors can be charged from the grid or renewable energy sources, need less maintenance, and provide high torque at low speeds.
As a Certified B Corp since 2019 Solectrac continues to maintain the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability. Since becoming a subsidiary of Ideanomics in 2021, Solectrac has been growing fast and adding new dealerships to its expanding network to provide sales and service to customers. In 2022, the company opened a new 36,000 square foot production facility in Windsor, California and soon added a second assembly center in North Carolina to serve east coast customers.
Sunlight Electric | Rob Erlichman
Sunlight Electric is Northern California’s premier designer and retailer of commercial photovoltaic systems with a major focus on the sustainable food, beverage, and agriculture-related market sectors as well as deep experience in solutions for retail, corporate office parks, auto retailing, and refrigerated warehousing. Headquartered in Sonoma, Sunlight Electric provides the wine industry with a range of energy products and services and has become the industry’s most trusted provider with over 50 winery and wine-related projects in Napa, Sonoma, and the Central Coast regions.
Napa Green | Megan Scott
Napa Green is a global leader in sustainable winegrowing, setting the highest bar for sustainability and climate action in the wine industry. Napa Green facilitates systematic soil to bottle certification for wineries and vineyards, and provides the resources, tools and connections to continuously level up leadership. In 2021, Napa Green was the first sustainable winegrowing program in the world to redevelop Vineyard certification standards to focus on climate action, regenerative carbon farming, and social equity. In 2022, Napa Green and community partners launched a first of its kind, six-event Climate & Wine Symposium (Napa THRIVES now RISE) with over 65 speakers and 600 total guests.
