Our objective at Rutherford Hill is to leave our surrounding environment in better condition than it was found. The winery is fully committed to sustainable farming and green business practices across all of our operations. From Rutherford Hill’s 100% solar powered winery to Owl Boxes in the vineyards, we are constantly looking for natural and “green” solutions that deliver the highest quality of our wines.

Rutherford Hill has adopted and utilized many sustainable practices, one of them being energy efficiency. The winery’s solar panels are harvesting the sun’s energy to both better the environment and our winemaking. Being a family-owned winery, we value the importance of energy conservation as it is going to promote future generations to help our environment. The Terlato family believes that many small steps can add up to a long journey towards making a genuine difference.

Additionally, we value sustainable farming efforts at our vineyards. Bringing the wealth of the modern advancement in knowledge and technology with traditional farming, Rutherford Hill embraces other eco-friendly initiatives.

• By not applying sulfur, we save beneficial insects – we use modern compounds that only affect mildew spores and nothing else.
• We employ modern mating disruption pheromones that only target the intended pest.
• We use a high-tech water monitoring system that measure vine water use, so we don’t over or under use water.
• We utilize specific cover crops between the vine rows which produce a natural substance that controls soil pests. The same crops also provide a home for beneficial insects.
• Owl Boxes and Hawk perches promote a healthy bird-of-prey population, which naturally controls the rodent population.
• Use of recycable shipping materials.
• We believe the trend of becoming sustainably green continues to escalate in the wine industry. At Rutherford Hill, we strive to adopt more techniques that benefit both the environment and the winemaking process. We hope that future generations will continue to preserve our precious land and deliver the highest quality of wines.