Wine grapes go green: The Sustainable Viticulture Story

Wine grapes go green: The susTainable viTiculTure sTory W grapes and wine are among California’s signature products, and they fuel a powerful economic engine in the state. Each year, 20 million tourists roam the state’s wine regions, tasting, purchasing and taking in the beauty of the landscape. California, which produces 90% of the nation’s wine supply, generates revenues of $19 billion a year for wine and wine grapes alone. The full economic impact of California wine is $51.8 billion a year. However, the story of California viticulture — and particularly the story of sustainable wine-grape growing — is about more than productivity, wine country tours, or dollars and cents. Beginning in the early 1990s, winegrowers worked together to make groundbreaking commitments to agriculturalenvironmental partnerships. They invested time, money and energy in adopting sustainable practices — sustainable not only in terms of the bottom line, but in terms of California water, soil, wildlife, conditions for workers and communityfarmer relationships. Wine grapes are cultivated on some of the most sensitive acres in the state, in areas of high population growth, high land values and environmental activism. Vineyards are part of scenic landscapes prized by Californians; they border urban and suburban development, and they are adjacent to abundant and diverse wildlife. Growers and winemakers realized early that they could have a positive impact on this environment and their employees, and that their credibility in the wider community, outreach to neighbors, and market reputation would be strengthened through efforts to establish sustainable practices. Through early adoption by groups such as the Lodi Winegrape Commission (page 142), the Central Coast Vineyard Team, the Napa Sustainable Winegrowing Group, Fish Friendly Farming, and later through the statewide Sustainable Winegrowing Program created by the California Association of Winegrape Growers and the Wine Institute, they have promoted sustainability both in the vineyard and the winery. Their innovative efforts are now prototypes for other commodities. Research promotes sustainable practices. Decades of UC research and extension have helped to facilitate sustainable viticulture. Growers applied years of research results to the Karen Ross President