PROACTIVE FARMING,
SOIL HEALTH & BIODIVERSITY
PROACTIVE FARMING, SOIL HEALTH & BIODIVERSITY
APRIL 13, 2023 | Charles Krug Winery, Carriage House
Exclusive Event Sponsor - Napa Green
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 a first of its kind, six-event Climate & Wine Symposium (Napa THRIVES now RISE) with over 65 speakers and 600 total guests.
7:45 AM - Registration
8:00 AM - Mentor -OR- Show and Tell workshops
Offsite Mentorship Workshop:
Biological & Cultural Weed Control
Join Ivo Jeramaz, Vice President of Vineyards & Production at Grgich Estate, as he works with Anton Luiten, Vineyard Manager and Maggie Purdie, Enologist at Materra | Cunat Family Vineyards to talk through the practical first steps and considerations for phasing out Roundup and other herbicides. Adopting any new approach, whether personally or professionally, initially requires learning, time, and often cost. But once a new practice becomes streamlined there are often benefits and associated savings. Ivo has the spreadsheets to prove this case for organic farming. Be a part of this transitional conversation that will include a by the numbers analysis.
Onsite Show & Tell Workshop:
During this workshop you’ll get to visit two stations:
9:15 AM - BREAKFAST HOUR with Sustainable Services & Solutions Networking
Coffee, treats and networking with our “Sustainable Services & Solutions” partners, including Advancing Eco Ag, Agrology, Buzz Cover Crop Seed, Earthworks Biochar, Napa Wildlife Rescue (BOMP), Napa Resource Conservation District, Saverglass, The Clean Burn Company, Wilbur-Ellis, Napa Green and others.
10:15 AM - Welcoming Remarks
Welcoming remarks from Riana Mondavi, Brand Ambassador and Director of Chains for Charles Krug Winery, and Anna Brittain, Executive Director of Napa Green.
10:20 AM - Marquee Address from Mimi Casteel, Hope Well Wine
Vineyard manager and winemaker for Hope Well Wine, Mimi Casteel is an incredibly passionate voice and example for this new era of regenerative carbon farming. Mimi is world-renowned for her vision of transformative viticulture, her approachable communication of that vision, and her on the ground examples of how to produce expressive wines from vibrant, healthy, carbon-rich soils in vineyards actively cultivating plant and animal diversity.
A 2019 Punch article noted, “To her, regenerative farming is the Manhattan Project of our time.
‘We built nuclear bombs when we felt threatened. That was a very short, very intense effort of the best minds. With a fraction of that, we could transition 400 million acres in less than a decade and that would change… everything.’”
11:00 AM - break
11:15 AM - Living Room Salon:
The True Value of Regenerative Agriculture
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has named “nature-based solutions,” including carbon farming, as one of the top five solutions to climate change. Grape growers have a proactive role they can play in both building more resilient vineyards and mitigating climate change. Practices like cover crops, compost, and conservation tillage build soil health, water and nutrient retention and plant delivery, resiliency to drought and high heat AND they store more carbon in the soil.
During this Salon, freelance journalist, author and professor Mark Gudgel will moderate a conversation with Kelly Mulville of Paicines Ranch, Ivo Jeramaz with Grgich Estate, and Natalie Winkler from Salvestrin Winery about the soil microbiome and the underground brain of the vine. This powerhouse group will discuss decades of science, ongoing research, and their own experience with the benefits of expanding regenerative farming practices in the vineyard.
12:30 PM - LUNCH & WINE
Enjoy wines from Charles Krug Winery and lunch by Elaine Bell Catering.
