The Grapevine: Eco-Friendly Wineries in California

Just how big is your carbon footprint? Most of us haven’t a clue. We recycle. We use our own shopping bags. Does it make a difference?

You bet your sweet zinfandel!

Fetzer Vineyards, of Mendocino, Calif., made an eco-friendly decision to switch to lightweight glass bottles in 2009. The decision to lose the weight, i.e. drop from a 20.3-ounce bottle to a 17-ounce bottle, will reduce Fetzer’s production of greenhouse gases by 14 percent, or 2,985 tons of carbon dioxide (after factoring in the energy required to produce and ship the heavier glass vs. the new version).

As we know, trees process carbon dioxide and release oxygen. The impact of Fetzer’s decision within the span of one calendar year is the environmental equivalent of planting 70,000 trees and growing them for 10 years. Three years later, the impact will be akin to planting 210,000 trees and letting them grow for 10 years.

The reduction in glass alone (2, 173 tons) eliminates more than 4 million new wine bottles going into circulation each calendar year. If you do your part and recycle the lightweight bottle, you will also reduce the equivalent of 5.9 lbs worth of carbon dioxide emissions per bottle.

But it is the generation of electricity that is the leading contributor to air pollution in the United States. Most generator plants burn fossil fuels; this dumps millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year.

So Fetzer went solar. Its clean energy program, a 901-kilowatt photovoltaic project positioned on the roof of the bottling facility and red barrel room in Hopland, Calif., generates more than a million kilowatt hours of energy a year, supplying them with 80 percent of the electricity needed to function each year.

By sourcing its energy this way, Fetzer has further reduced its carbon footprint by eliminating 960,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year. The impact is akin to taking 80 cars off the road for 12 months.

But Fetzer isn’t the only eco-conscious wine producer on the market. In 2003, Rodney Strong Vineyards, of California, put solar panels on the roof of its 100,000-square-foot barrel house. This reduced energy use by 35 percent and electrical costs by 40 percent. The solar project generates enough clean energy to power 800 homes and reduces their carbon footprint by eliminating more than 8,700 tons of greenhouse gas production over the next 25 years. Again, to use the tree analogy, they’ve done the equivalent of foresting 2,500 acres with trees.

Shafer Vineyards, of California, went 100 percent solar in 2004. Its project will have the air-purifying equivalent of planting 17,000 trees.

Domaine Carneros, also in California, went solar in 2003. The energy generated by the photovoltaic system on its Pinot Noir winery handles 40 percent of the facility’s electrical load. Frog’s Leap Winery generates 100 percent of its own electricity with solar power.

Constellation Wines, now the largest wine company in the world (representing such brands as Simi, Franciscan, Robert Mondavi Winery, Kim Crawford, Ruffino, Tintara, Mouton Cadet, Arbor Mist, Cooks and Vendange), is going solar also. Their project, currently under production, is projected to eliminate the release of 1.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide, 1,636 pounds of sulfur dioxide and 2,909 pounds of nitrogen oxide each year, the equivalent of taking 2,000 cars off the road for 12 months.

When the winery is not using its electricity, that clean energy will be routed to supply energy for a quarter of the 1,695 households in the town of Gonzales, California.

Kudos to Constellation and the rest of the earth-friendly bunch. We should all give them a toast (serving their own eco-friendly wines, of course), then recycle those empty bottles. Together, we can do a world of good.

Lisa Airey
The View