Napa Green | Champion Story
Biochar is a form of charcoal that is being tested as a soil amendment in several vineyards throughout Napa County as growers look to improve soil health, increase carbon capture and reduce nutrient inputs.
Among those exploring the use of biochar are Cakebread Cellars, Spring Mountain Vineyard and the Napa Resource Conservation District (RCD), which manages an experimental vineyard in Carneros. In Sonoma County, the Bedrock Wine Co.is adding the material to key vineyard properties. Elsewhere in California, larger-scale experiments are being conducted by Monterey Pacific vineyard management company and Bonterra Vineyards, with trials on both newly planted and existing vineyards.
On one block at a Bedrock property in Geyserville, a sizeable portion of the topsoil was scraped off and the subsoil contained low organic matter. In 2017, the cover crop didn’t properly establish leading the Bedrock team to explore how biochar might help rehabilitate the site. They worked with Pacific Biochar to apply a compost and biochar mix this past fall and the results have been dramatic. Vineyard manager Jake Neustadt recently reported that waist-high barley and a thick mat of sub-clover have taken root at the site. Jake acknowledged that he sees a profound impact of adding biochar on depleted soils.
The Napa RCD also worked with Pacific Biochar at their Huichica Creek vineyard to apply a blend prior to a new vineyard planting in 2016. RCD also applied a blend to an existing vineyard in fall 2017 establishing controls for comparison in both cases. Two years after planting, early results show that the area with biochar has a higher carbon concentration and more organic matter. The RCD has also quantified a higher aggregate stability – improving soil structure and resilience to erosion.
Napa Green is a global leader in sustainable winegrowing, setting the highest bar for sustainability and climate action in the wine industry. Napa Green facilitates systematic soil to bottle certification for wineries and vineyards, and provides the resources, tools and connections to continuously level up leadership. In 2021, Napa Green was the first sustainable winegrowing program in the world to redevelop Vineyard certification standards to focus on climate action, regenerative carbon farming, and social equity. In 2022, Napa Green and community partners launched the first of its kind, six-event RISE Climate & Wine Symposium (formerly THRIVES) with over 65 leading speakers and 40 “Sustainable Services & Solutions” partners and sponsors.
