Mendocino, Ca. To COP21: Je Suis Fetzer Vineyards

Equally important to deforestation and fossil fuel burning at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) was how to change agriculture’s imprint on the planet. It isn’t akin to the massive Archer Daniels Midland , but at nearly $30 billion annually, the agriculturally based American wine industry has an important role to play in checking global climate, and no other American winery does a better job of it than Northern California’s Fetzer Vineyards.

Fetzer Vineyards does not post its revenue, and the company represents less than one percent of the collective American wine industry, yet in 2015 it is a leader in organic and biodynamic viticulture, and became the largest American winery to gain B Corp certification (a B Corp must meet the highest standards of overall social and environmental performance).

Joined by France’s Moët Chandon Estates and Wines, Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Château Maris, and Fetzer Vineyard’s earth-friendly yet massive corporate owner, Concha y Toro, of Chile, Josh Prigge, Fetzer Vineyard’s Director of Regenerative Development talked about his company at the COP21 Climate for Change Business Forum.

Fetzer Vineyard has been in the vanguard of sustainability since before publicists even knew what the word meant . In 1968 Barney Fetzer’s sons Jim and John turned an old Mendocino County sheep farm into a winery, with plans to buck the so-called conventional grape growing trend heavy on belching tractors, indiscriminate water irrigation, and petrochemical sprays.

According to Prigge, by 1988 the company was already in the vanguard of sustainable farming; by 1990, Fetzer Vineyards had committed to a zero waste philosophy; and by 1993, it had won its first of many awards, the Wrap Award from California’s Integrated Waste Management Board.

From 1995 to 2007 Fetzer Vineyards erected an administration building exclusively from recycled material, eliminated chlorine use in its well water, was powered by 100% renewable energy, and halted use in its vineyards of the ozone-depleting pesticide and fumigant, methyl bromide. By the end of the twelve-year period, the winery had saved nearly 500,000 kilowatt hours and 6.6 million gallons of water.

In 2014, the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council certified Fetzer Vineyards as a Zero Waste Company, and in 2015 the company gained B Corp certification.

Prigge told the audience that Fetzer Vineyards’ goals for the future include carbon neutrality by the end of 2016, and by 2020 the company expects to reduce its present energy use by 20 percent, reduce water use by 15 percent, reach 100 percent sustainability from its multiple grape suppliers, and score 100 on its B Corp impact assessment.

Additionally, the company sponsors sustainability scholarship programs, employee personal enrichment programs, and river restoration support. In all, Prigge promised that by 2030, Fetzer Vineyards will be a sustainably Net Positive company.

The company’s sustainability programs certainly benefit the planet, and in a period where consumers have awakened to the threat of global climate change, and as California suffers its most punishing drought, sustainability has been good for the bottom line as well.

At an average between $10 and $12/bottle retail, Wine & Spirits magazine a few years ago named Fetzer Vineyards a top Value Winery—twice. This writer certainly is impressed by the wines’ quality/price/relationship (QPR).

Fetzer Vineyards’ goals are undoubtedly lofty and important, but one subject remains a challenge: transportation.

These days, a company, especially a wine company, does not grow to Fetzer Vineyard's size by selling wine to its next door neighbors. While packaging has been revamped for lightness and recyclability, to reach national and international wine consumers still takes trucks, rail cars, airplanes, and ships, which takes us back to the news coverage of 2015 COP21 and its focus on fossil fuel.