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Parducci Named First Carbon Neutral Winery in U.S. - In Part from 3Degrees Carbon Offsets
Company started by examining its carbon footprint and exploring how to zero out its impacts
UKIAH - April, 22, 2008 - In the effort to champion sustainability a family-owned winery in Northern California has taken a giant step forward for itself and the wine industry.
Parducci Wine Cellars of Ukiah has become the nation's first carbon-neutral winery, converting to a 100-percent green power platform that includes solar and wind power, as well as carbon credits from 3Degrees.
Walking around the Parducci grounds in Ukiah, marketing and sales coordinator Kelly Lentz says that the company has a long and fascinating story that combines care for the community with land stewardship values.
However, the company's values have taken on a deeper shade of green since 2004, when former Fetzer winemaker Paul Dolan partnered with the Thornhill family to form Mendocino Wine Co. and purchased Parducci Wine Cellars.
"We've been working towards green ever since we bought the company," Dolan said.
Dolan himself is considered a leader in the sustainability movement, working in both organic and biodynamic wine production. It's a conversation that he said he's been involved with for 20 years of his three-decade wine industry career. He's also written a book on the subject.
So when he had the chance to purchase the area's oldest winery and take some groundbreaking actions, he jumped at the chance to integrate the ideas he's developed.
The company started by examining its carbon footprint and exploring how to zero out its impacts, said Lentz, who was project director for the winery's carbon neutral program and green power project.
The effort included everything from converting the winery's big diesel trucks to biodiesel fuel, to using millions of pounds of organic matter left over from harvest for natural - rather than petrochemical-based - composting, making buildings more energy efficient and changing labels on wine bottles.
Efforts to become more sustainable led the winery to receiving in 2007 the Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award, California's highest environmental honor.
In addition to the Parducci label, Mendocino Wine Co. produces a portfolio of wines at its Ukiah winery, which Dolan said produces 300,000 cases of wine annually. Brands include the organic Paul Dolan Vineyards and Deep Red, a biodynamic wine. Varietals the company produces include Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Petite Sirah, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, even Port.
Dolan said the company has completed the first phase of its solar installation, at a cost of $1 million and plans to install more. In the mean time, it purchased both carbon offsets and carbon credits to achieve carbon neutrality.
Parducci also is in the process of converting more of its 400 acres of winegrapes to organic, said Dolan. So far, 180 acres are certified organic, with 70 certified by Demeter for biodynamic status.
Lentz said the carbon credits Parducci purchased will go to support projects such as maintaining old growth redwood forest in Humboldt County and assisting a 12th-generation Pennsylvania dairy family with installing a methane digester.
Other work in the vineyard includes a water conservation program that has cut the winery's water usage by one third, said Lentz, and includes recycling water for frost protection. The winery also is working to achieve a polyculture with cover crops, habitat breaks and encouraging natural habitat through raptor perches and owl boxes.
While the Parducci label itself isn't organic, efforts at making it greener also are making it more palatable to customers, in more ways than one.
The winery's story is increasingly appealing to consumers who are interested in the efforts to create a sustainable product, said Dolan. The message also got to Whole Foods, for whom Parducci is creating sustainable red and white wines as part of an exclusive one-year deal.
Consumers have been interested in organic food for a long time but, until recently, "it hasn't shown up so much for wine," said Dolan.
However, Dolan notes that organic wines have grown by 30 percent over the last two years. Organic production, he added, improves wine quality.
In addition, there are bottom-line results, said Dolan. "Once we get the system down we actually are more cost effective farming organically because our production is a little bit better than a conventional farmer."
The wine industry has long been a leader when it comes to forward-thinking practices, said Dolan, pointing to sustainable winegrape growing practices the industry had adopted. So it's no surprise that it's once again taking on important issues such as climate change.
Dolan and the Thornills also say that their efforts aren't intended to find an end point. Rather, the work of sustainability and protection the natural is an ongoing effort - a journey, not a destination.