ENERGY SAVINGS & EFFICIENCY

Winemaking requires significant energy. Substantial electricity is used in refrigeration systems to cool, ferment, and age wine, while hot water sanitizes bottling lines, barrels, and storage tanks. At Napa Green, we track and baseline our members’ energy footprint, as improving energy efficiency offers one of the most immediate paths to reducing operational costs.

The potential savings are substantial. Consider two wineries producing 25,000 cases each: one spends $2 per case on electricity, while the other spends $6 per case. That equates to a $100,000 annual cost gap to produce the exact same quantity of wine.

Below are practical opportunities to improve energy efficiency and adopt renewables across vineyard and winery facilities:

  • Transition to electric winery and vineyard machinery, including forklifts and tractors
  • Leverage nighttime air cooling for natural cellar temperature regulation
  • Keep thermostats locked at optimal settings (68Β°F in winter, 76–78Β°F in summer)
  • Upgrade facility lighting to LEDs, install motion sensors for automated lighting control, and utilize skylights or other daylighting options
  • Equip compressors and motors with Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) to match operation directly to demand
  • Lower hot water temperatures to 120–140Β°F when higher temperatures are not needed for sanitization to improve water conservation and reduce energy spent heating, treating, and moving water

sustainability spotlight

Brandon deLeuze | Winemaker at ZD Wines
"Our shift in mindset to stewardship and sustainability started in the 1980s, when my grandfather realized the toxicity of a vineyard spray and decided to go organic. In 2007, we were one of the first wineries to install a solar array. Here we are 15 years later and the sun still provides 70% of our electricity. But as Napa Green reminds us, we don’t want to β€œsolarize inefficiencies.” We’re always trying to maximize energy efficiency so we reduce those monthly utility bills. All of our lighting is now LED, we use night-air to cool the cellar, and all of our motors have VFDs, which phase operation based on demand. We’ve reduced deliveries by generating our own nitrogen onsite and nixing bottled water. We have seven electric vehicle chargers, with four family and three employee EVs. If you’re a company with a long-term view it makes sense to keep doing more."

Napa Green Substack

Resources

sponsors & partners

Napa Green is grateful to our industry and community partners, who support energy efficiency and renewable energy in the wine industry. To become a champion of Napa Green please reach out to Napa Green.