While Napa Valley may be best known for its world-class wines, it is also internationally recognized for its dedication to land stewardship. Designated as America’s first agricultural preserve in April 1968, the Napa Valley has been practicing sustainability for more than fifty years.

The Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve is one of the primary reasons why the Napa Valley is, and will remain, a world-famous wine-growing region for generations to come. According to Visit Napa Valley’s biannual visitor profile study, the region’s natural scenic beauty is second only to wine as to what appeals most to visitors.

Napa Valley winegrowers, vintners, restaurants, hotels, and golf courses honor and preserve the area’s natural beauty with the following innovative sustainable business practices to continue this legacy:

Wineries:

Alpha Omega in St. Helena is a Napa Green-certified winery and vineyard, operating nearly 100 percent on solar power, which has greatly reduced their electricity bill. Their 400 kilowatt (kW) solar and 580 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery microgrid system includes a first-of-its-kind, fully integrated solar and battery facility back-up power system. Five solar power arrays were architecturally designed to serve as shade structures for guests, employee parking, and winery equipment. The winery also provides three Tesla charging stations and another station for electric vehicles. The winery has discontinued use of branded plastic water bottles and instead offers guests ice-cold water in glass dispensers and clear, eco-friendly cups made from cornstarch. Compostable coffee cups are made with 100 percent renewable resources. All paper towels and toilet paper are made from recycled materials, and electronic hand dryers in guest and employee restrooms reduce paper usage.
Website: aowinery.com
PR contact: Kelly Carter, kelly@aowinery.com

Cakebread Cellars in Rutherford features an eco-focused parking area including permeable pavers set on 18 inches of crushed rock that filters pollutants from water. Underground drains channel water to bio-swales, where it is slowly released back into the groundwater table supply. Additionally, the parking area is shaded by a collection of olive, fruit and nut-bearing trees, and all landscaping is drought resistant.
Website: cakebread.com
PR contact: Jennifer LaBranche, Jennifer@cakebread.com

All vineyards, olive and fruit orchards, as well as vegetable gardens at Clif Family Winery & Farm in St. Helena are farmed organically.  For their Bruschetteria Food Truck, they source ingredients from their own Napa Valley farm and from local purveyors. They use compostable and reusable service ware at the Food Truck and compost all kitchen waste. The power for their farm properties, administrative office, and tasting room comes from MCE Clean Energy’s Deep Green program. With Deep Green, 100 percent of the power comes from non-polluting wind, solar power, and biogas.  Their farm and vineyard properties are CCOF Certified Organic, Napa Green Certified and Food Alliance Certified.  The winery has formed an “Office Green Up Task Force” to identify ways to reduce paper waste, recycle, and use less energy during each work day. 
Website: www.cliffamily.com
PR contact: Meg Barkley, mbarkley@cliffamily.com 

Domaine Carneros in Napa places a high priority on living as lightly on the land as possible.  Since 1987, sustainability has been a main business practice by CEO and founding winemaker Eileen Crane, who recognized that for philosophical as well as economic reasons, sustainability made sense as a tenant of doing business. In addition to being Napa Green Certified for both their land and winery programs, the winery became Certified Sustainable in 2013, Certified Fish Friendly Farming in 2015, and in 2019 were the recipients of the California Green Medal Business Award, recognized for demonstrating “Smart Business through efficiencies, cost savings and innovation from implementing sustainable practices.”  Those practices include being an early adopter of solar by installing “the largest solar collection system of any winery in the world” in 2003.  Additionally, composting and recycling practices divert 90 percent of its solid waste from landfills, and a packaging re-use program accounts for a 20-25 percent reuse rate each year.  Sustainable practices in its 400 acres of vineyards include installing owl boxes to encourage natural rodent management and diverting grape pomace from harvest to feed local cattle.
Website: domainecarneros.com
PR contact: Kimberly Noelle Charles, Press@charlescomm.com

Inglenook in Rutherford has been certified organic since 1994 and celebrates their 25th anniversary of organic certification this year. In keeping with the sustainable approach, the team uses a fleet of energy-efficient electric vehicles on the estate.
Website: www.Inglenook.com
PR contact: Casey Shaughnessy, casey@kcs-pr.com

Long Meadow Ranch is a family-owned agricultural business and pioneer for Full Circle Farming, an organic, sustainable, integrated farming system that relies on each part of the ranch to contribute to the health of the full operation. Included in the system are vineyards, olive groves, Highland cattle, heirloom fruits and vegetables, chickens, horses and bees. Vineyards are the backbone of Long Meadow Ranch, with more than 150 planted acres farmed using organic practices certified by California Certified Organic Farmers. Long Meadow Ranch utilizes an extensive composting system that relies on organic material from each segment of the ranch, and also employs solar energy to power their commercial and residential needs, saving nearly 70 tons of carbon monoxide per year as compared to a natural gas power plant.
Website: https://www.longmeadowranch.com/
PR contact: Natalie Perkins, nperkins@colangelopr.com

Miner Family Winery’s vision to preserve the land and become powered exclusively by solar energy was realized in 2008, when Dave Miner inaugurated its photovoltaic system. The Miner array is one of the largest projects to date installed in the Napa Valley that balances environmental respect and the aesthetics of the natural landscape.
Website: minerwines.com
PR contact: Lauren Carpenter, lauren@minerwines.com

Trefethen Family Vineyards is 100 percent solar-powered and all water used in the winery to wash barrels and tanks is recycled and used in the vineyard. As part of their Integrated Pest Management (IPM) system, owl boxes help manage rodents, while bats and bluebirds manage insects. Additionally, all pomace (grape skins and seeds) are composted and then put back into the vineyard. The winery has soil moisture probes throughout the vineyard to monitor the amount of moisture in the soil at different depths, which help to make educated decisions on when, and if, to irrigate. Excess produce from the winery’s garden is distributed to all employees.  The winery and land is certified Napa Green and   California Sustainable.
Website: trefethen.com
PR contact: Nicole Rosenstiel, nicole@trefethen.com

In partnership with sister wineries, Trinchero Napa Valley has implemented a zero-waste goal for operations and has achieved 99 percent diversion. In the vineyards, owl boxes control rodents and other pests without the use of chemicals or traps. The winery also converts grape skins, seeds and stems into cattle feed and compost for vineyards. The winery is a certified Napa County Green Business; has received Fish Friendly Farming and Napa Green certifications; is a certified California Sustainable winery; and has received the California Green Medal for sustainable winegrowing leadership.
Website:www.trincheronapavalley.com
PR contact: Brittany Klutzke, bklutzke@tfewines.com

Restaurants:

Angele Restaurant & Bar in downtown Napa tries to use only local purveyors and farms and composts all food and paper waste. To eliminate plastics, the restaurant switched over to paper and corn straws, and wooden or corn silverware.
Website: angelerestaurant.com
PR contact: Kelly Mitchell-Jacks, kelly@angelerestaurant.com

Gran Electrica in downtown Napa uses recycled paper straws for all of their beverages;  recycled paper hand towels; recycled to-go containers, all of which are fully compostable; reusable laundry bags supplied by their linen company; and recycle printed menus to use for in house copies. Additionally, they work with Napa Valley Recycling to properly compartmentalize all waste for maximum sustainability. The restaurant also works with a biodiesel oil collection company that picks up used kitchen oil to use as biofuel. Whenever possible, they only source from local farms. Their beef comes from Five Dot Ranch; their pork from Llano Seco; their poultry from Bassian Farms; their fish from Aloha Seafood; and their beans from Rancho Gordo in downtown Napa. They also grow peppers, squash, cilantro, mint, edible flowers and various herbs onsite to reduce the need to purchase additional produce, and staff is trained to never waste food. Instead, they pickle and dehydrate certain items, or use unserved food for staff meals. The owners also encourage their staff to carpool or bike to work.
Website: granelectrica.com
PR contact: Tamer Hamawi, co-owner, tamer@granelectrica.com

At Napa’s Oxbow Public Market, the hallmark of the public market setting is establishing direct links to local farms, ranches, and sustainable food producers. Each merchant is required to use only compostable containers and other similar products for food services; including straws, plates, napkins, and packaging. All cleaning supplies are environmentally friendly, and they have replaced paper towels with hot air hand dryers in the bathrooms. Lastly, several multi-purpose waste management stations are provided to allow customers to actively participate in the disposal of compost, trash and recycling.
Website: oxbowpublicmarket.com
PR contact: Tom Fuller, tom@fullerandsander.com

Hotels:

Indian Springs Calistoga offers guests compostable beverage cups at the front desk, spa and pool. The resort also utilizes greywater and thermal mineral water to irrigate the property’s vegetation. In addition, the resort has a sustainable on-site chicken coop, using the farm fresh eggs at Sam’s Social Club.   
Website: indianspringscalistoga.com
PR contact: Annie Miller, annie@candrpr.com

In an effort to reduce their carbon footprint, Poetry Inn in Napa has switched from plastic to glass water bottles. Their candles are now refilled when they burn down, rather than disposed of, and they donate slightly used soaps and bath amenities to Clean the World, an organization that provides millions of partially used soaps (that would otherwise end up in landfills) to impoverished countries, helping to improve hygiene and prevent disease.
Website: poetryinn.com
PR contact: Sam Viklund, sviklund@jarviscommunications.com

Golf Courses:

Chardonnay Golf Club & Vineyards uses reclaimed water from Napa Sanitation for the irrigation of the golf course and vineyards and uses only organic fertilizers on the golf course.
PR contact: Roger Billings:  rbillings@chardonnaygolfclub.com

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About Visit Napa Valley

Visit Napa Valley is the official destination management organization for the Napa Valley, with a mission to promote, protect and enhance the region’s position as an attractive travel destination and enhance its public image as a dynamic place to visit, live and work.

The Napa Valley, conveniently located just an hour from the San Francisco Bay Area, consists of the following distinctive towns, including, from north to south, Calistoga, St. Helena, Rutherford/Oakville, Yountville, the city of Napa, American Canyon, and the outdoor recreation area of Lake Berryessa.   

The Napa Valley Welcome Center, located at 600 Main St. along the riverfront in downtown Napa, provides visitors with expert Concierge services from Napa Valley Ambassadors who offer complimentary Napa Valley magazines, maps, brochures and winery tasting passes. The Welcome Center, open daily 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., also offers complimentary Wi-Fi and a mercantile shop featuring locally sourced gift items.

For additional information on the Napa Valley, or to plan your Napa Valley experience, please explore VisitNapaValley.com, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @VisitNapaValley.

Media Contact:
Angela Jackson, Director of Media Relations
Visit Napa Valley
Angela@visitnapavalley.com
707-260-0114