In a valley approximately 30 miles long and five miles wide, there are now nearly 500 wineries. The majority of them are small and family-owned and more than one-quarter are certified Napa Green.
More than 55 percent (over 24,000 acres) of Napa Valley’s vineyard acreage is certified Napa Green Land. More than 65 percent of Napa Valley Vintners’ members are participating in either or both the Napa Green Certified Land and Napa Green Certified Winery programs, and more than 40 wineries have comprehensive Soil-to-Bottle certification in both. Napa Valley’s vintners are committed to caring for the land and its resources so the next generation can continue the winemaking tradition.
Napa Green Certified Participants
From Soil to Bottle
A Comprehensive Sustainability Certification Program for Napa Valley Wineries and Vineyards
As you visit and taste your way through the Napa Valley, you will experience world-class hospitality and wines in one of the most environmentally progressive wine regions in the world.
Many of the Napa Valley's most iconic wineries pride themselves not only on having exceptional winemakers and grape growers, but on being sustainability leaders. From soil to bottle, Napa Green Certified vintners make a long series of thoughtful decisions that steward the land and conserve resources – all while producing extraordinary wines.
Making a Napa Green Wine
- Vintners choose a type of rootstock, vineyard layout and planting area based on what is best for the soil and the vine. Each decision made reflects a commitment to minimizing water usage and protecting the watershed while maximizing grape quality.
- Next, cover crops are planted in the vineyard to enhance soil fertility and water-holding capacity while simultaneously preventing erosion. The mixture of seed used for a cover crop is carefully chosen to maximize benefits for the soil and vine.
- As grapes grow in the warm Napa Valley sun, vineyard managers utilize natural predators such as blue birds and owls to keep the ecosystem in balance, requiring less intervention to manage pests and disease.
- Skilled workers tend the vines throughout the growing season, carefully pruning and monitoring the crop. At harvest, grapes are picked in the early morning hours to avoid the afternoon sun. This preserves their quality.
- When fruit reaches the winery, winemakers must decide several things: how they will crush the grapes, how they will ferment the juice and how the resulting wine will be stored to age. In a Napa Green winery, water and energy usage and waste are minimized during this process.
- As a wine ages, members of the cellar crew and winemaking team will monitor it to ensure it is developing the flavors, aromatics and mouthfeel desired. After spending months in tanks and barrels, the wine will be bottled.
A glass of Napa Green wine reflects the people, energy, climate and ecology of the Napa Valley. From the cover crops that keep the rich soils in the vineyard and out of the waterways to the winery “Green Teams” that drive energy and water savings and cut waste, each glass of Napa Green wine represents the commitment to making exceptional, high-quality wines using rigorous land stewardship and sustainable winemaking standards.