Treasury Wine Estates, Napa the world's largest publicly listed, wine-only company – with over 60 iconic brands including, Beringer Vineyards, Chateau St. Jean, Etude, Penfolds, St. Clement, Stags' Leap Winery and Wolf Blass – has announced that 100% of its company-owned and leased vineyards in California are now certified as "sustainable" by third-parties.
The company's vineyards in the North Coast have all received certification from the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, and its vineyards in the Central Coast by the Sustainability in Practice program. These certification programs require applicants to meet eligibility prerequisites, conduct assessments of vineyard operations, and create and implement annual action plans to show continuous improvement.
Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), Napa the world's largest publicly listed, wine-only company, owns and leases approximately 6,000 acres of vineyards in California, including: Abbott, Asti, Bale Lane, Bancroft, Camatta, Cat Canyon, Grace Benoist, Big Ranch Road, Chabot, Chateau St. Jean, Clear Mountain, Dos Rios, Foote Home, Gamble, Knights Valley, La Petite Etoile, Marston, Meridian Home, North Canyon, St. Clement, St. Helena Home, Stags' Leap, Stanly Ranch, Steinhauer Ranch, and Yountville.
"At Treasury Wine Estates, sustainability is integral to our company culture and long-term success," says Michael Kluczko, Senior Vice President of Americas Supply. "We have a long-running commitment to embedding sustainability throughout every part of our business. This announcement is affirmation of our sustainable farming practices and specifically to the actions our supply and viticulture teams have taken over the last three years to achieve this recognition. We rely on the environment to grow our grapes and to make our wine. It's our responsibility to look after it."
This is Bernger's Marston Ranch Vineyard in Napa. Volcanic in origin and low in fertility, the soils of this historic mountain vineyard have for decades been highly regarded for both Bordeaux and Rhene varietals, primarily Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. Marston Ranch is actually a contiguous, multi-level string of smaller vineyards on the front and back sides of a hill in the Spring Mountain appellation just west of St. Helena.
TWE's sustainable farming practices include:
- Energy Conservation: The company reduced its energy consumption by 20% between 2008 and 2011. Energy consumption and carbon emissions were reduced through ongoing efforts including the installation of solar arrays across its sites – the largest for a wine company in the State of California, installing high-efficiency lighting at all facilities, upgrading refrigeration equipment at its Asti site in Cloverdale, Calif., and more.
- Sustainable Agricultural: The company participates in the Fish Friendly Farming program and maintains natural watersheds to protect rivers and streams from sediment run-off; over 250 owl boxes and falcon perches have been installed in vineyards to naturally control rodents; compost and cover crops are utilized to improve soil health, increase organic matter content, and prevent soil erosion and compaction; minimal tillage is done to aid in soil carbon storage; falconers are utilized in select vineyards for sustainable management of starlings during harvest.
- Water Conservation: Vineyards are irrigated through drip irrigation systems based on soil and plant moisture monitoring, soil type and vineyard observations to maximize water use efficiency; overhead sprinklers for frost protection were replaced by new generation, temperature-controlled frost fans that use clean (propane) fuel.
- Habitat Conservation / Wildlife Protection: Vineyards are planted around existing oak trees and oak woodlands; riparian habitat revegetated along the Napa River; wildlife corridors installed to preserve native habitat and migration patterns of species including kit fox, deer, bobcats and coyotes; river road crossing and fish ladder removed on the Redwood Creek at Knights Valley to allow upstream migration of steelhead; native flowering cover crops are planted to provide habitat and food sources for beneficial insects.
- Natural Resource Protection: Vineyards have regular soil and water testing to monitor and protect soil health and water quality; vine nutrition monitoring is done annually for precise management of the vineyard.
- Social Equity: TWE is committed to providing a safe work environment for all employees and scored the highest possible ranking for its safety program by CSWA.
From the establishment of Australia's Penfolds in the mid-1840s to the 1876 founding of Beringer Vineyards, a winemaking legacy has been created. TWE is now the world's largest pure-play wine company with over 60 brands.
More is at www.tweglobal.com. To browse and purchase from over 200 wines spanning 4 continents, visit www.cellar360.com.