Finding the Gold and Good in Green

When the sun came up today, it went to work for SHAFER VINEYARDS in Napa. And so did some red-tailed hawks, barn owls and bats. Aside from putting the sun and the wildlife to work, Shafer also recycles the water used in winemaking, prepares compost from grape skins and seeds, and uses cover crops to improve the health of soils that have supported grapevines since 1922. It’s all part of the new push for environmental sustainability as Napa Valley wineries go green.

Twenty years ago, Shafer’s 208 acres of vineyards looked like any other Napa vineyard: clean as a whistle. Not a blade of grass, not a weed, no signs of birds or insects were visible—just knobby vines sticking out of the soil. That look came with a high price tag: using heavy- duty chemicals, tainting the soil with rodent poison to kill moles and gophers, spraying herbicides to kill unwanted foliage, applying powerful insecticides to kill insects, and relying on chemical fertilizers to feed the soil.

That’s all changed as vintners like Shafer have made a 180-degree turn toward green farming practices. Other wineries are greener but what makes Shafer’s efforts important is the prestige of its wines. Shafer is no counter culture winery. It’s one of Napa Valley’s premier properties, annually selling 32,000 cases of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay, sangiovese and syrah, ranging in price from $28 for a half-bottle to over $500 for a bottle of 2001 Shafer Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Stags Leap District.

DOUG SHAFER, the winery’s president, says it was hard to get away from the traditional farming mindset. “In 1989 when I took over the vineyard operation from my dad, there wasn’t much support for sustainable farming. Plus we didn’t really know if sustainable practices were going to work. One of my friends, John Williams at Frog’s Leap Winery in Rutherford, told me about the sustainable farming practices he was learning from Amigo Bob—consultant Bob Cantisano.”

Cantisano has helped dozens of Napa Valley wineries convert to more ecologically balanced, environmentally friendly farming methods. “Amigo Bob encouraged us to start planting cover crops to control erosion, attract ‘good bugs’ and move away from using fertilizers. Our soils were tired and depleted from all the clean discing we had always done. Back then I ran the vineyards like everybody ran the vineyards. You got every weed so the vineyard looked pretty and the weeds and vines didn’t compete for moisture. These days I’m after that feeling of a forest floor, all spongy under your feet with that earthy decay. It took ten years or more to really see a difference.”

Shafer started planting a mix of native cover crops—red oats, peas, clover and vetch—between the vines. “Right away they helped with erosion control. We started to get habitat for beneficial insects so I didn’t have to spray. There was a real learning curve because each vineyard is different. Now we look at the season, the age of the vines, the environment, the size of the crop, cold year versus wet year and the style of wine we want to make. But it was a little overwhelming at first.”

Unlike Frog’s Leap Winery, which farms organically, Shafer takes a sustainable approach to everything. “The whole organic thing requires certification and I have enough government agencies to deal with. We’re very comfortable with what we’re doing—recycling water, using natural predators, composting the grape stems and pumice. Instead of using sprays, we try to see if there’s another way to deal with pests. And nine times out of ten, there is. Sustainable farming also carries through to business sustainability. If you don’t take the long view, you’re not really going to stay in business. I have 18 employees and I want to keep them employed for a long time.”

Shafer says using cover crops yields lots of benefits, but there’s a downside, too. “Cover crops mean more gophers and moles. I read in some farm magazine about using raptors to control rodents. We have lots of hawks in Napa Valley but the vineyards didn’t offer them any overviews. They need a place to hunt from so we erected tall poles for them to perch and hunt. We also put owl nesting boxes in the vineyards. The owls and hawks come and go. They don’t wipe out the moles and gophers but they keep their population to a manageable level.” As Shafer likes to say, “It’s the circle of life.”

Dozens of Napa Valley vintners are embracing sustainable agriculture and solar energy. In fact the Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) worked with industry, environmental, governmental and community partners to develop a unique program for growers, the Napa Green Environmental Certification. The program establishes sustainable vineyard practices that enhance watershed and restore habitat. The list of more than three dozen Napa vintners enrolled in Napa Green reads like a who’s who of the valley’s finest, including Beringer Blass Winery, Cain Vineyards, Cakebread Cellars, Domaine Chandon, Duckhorn Wine Company, Mondavi, Silverado, Stags Leap, Sterling, Stonyhill and Trefethen. According to Terry Hall, communications director of NVV, more than 17,000 acres (9,000 planted with vines) are enrolled, and more than 6,500 acres are certified, with thousands more about to receive official certification. As Hall asserts, “Soil protection is the heart and soul of the Napa Valley.”

In December 2004, Shafer took another big green step by going 100 percent solar. Shafer says it was a no-brainer from a business point of view. “My dad was the real push behind it. He kept saying, ‘We have to look into this.’ Basically it’s a win-win-win situation.”

Shafer interviewed several solar installers and went with Premier Power in El Dorado Hills. Since electricity generation is the number one source of toxic air pollution in the country, Shafer saw going solar as a way to treat the air as well as the company treats the land. Plus, going solar cut Shafer’s monthly power bill from approximately $3,000 to about $40 a month. “One of my favorite things to do is watch the electricity meter run backwards.”

As more and more growers are discovering, solar power is the most reliable and environmentally friendly form of electricity on earth. Every sunny day, solar panels generate power, often sending it back to the electric company for full credit at the retail rate it charges you.

But do green farming practices make for better tasting wine? Shafer seems to think they do. “We’re finally starting to see that. With fermentation of grape juice, yeast needs sugar, as well as nitrogen compounds and amino acids. If you have happy yeasts, you get cleaner wines and better fermentation. Our winemaker, Elias Fernandez, keeps records of the various components in the crushed fruit each year. He says that nitrogen levels are up in the juice. In the last six years since sustainable farming has had a chance to make a difference, there’s been steady growth in the percentage of nitrogen compounds in the fruit. That’s partly from using cover crops that replace organic materials in the soils. As a winemaker, we’re looking for clean fermentation that results in more pure flavors in the wine. The goal is to keep the yeast happy and you do that with sugar and nitrogen. Clearly something has changed in the vineyards and it’s showing up in the bottle. Eventually, I think experience will prove that doing the right thing for the environment is also the best thing for the wine.”

In September 2005, Doug Shafer was awarded a Green Entrepreneur Award by the California Legislature and the State Assistance Fund for Enterprise, Business and Industrial Development, a nonprofit lender that supports businesses who implement sustainable practices. Shafer says it’s nice to be recognized, although, “I felt there were other folks who deserved it more. But it’s always good to get a pat on the back.” As for the rewards of going green, he reflects on the benefits and his answer tells it all. “The coolest thing about going green is it feels good ... because it’s the right thing to do.”

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