Sonoma County makes progress on sustainability goal
Santa Rosa, Calif.—The Sonoma County Winegrowers report that 85% of the county’s vineyard acreage has gone through a sustainability self-assessment and the group has plans for a new project dedicated to sustainability.
The winegrowers are seeking to have 100% of the county's vineayrd acreage certified as sustainable by 2019, and according to the groups' third annual sustainability report:
• 49,577 vineyard acres (85%) have undergone a self-assessment;
• 34,654 vineyard acres (60%) of Sonoma County’s 58,235 vineyard acres have been certified sustainable by a third-party audit
• more than 1,200 vineyard properties in Sonoma County are sustainable by either completing their sustainability self-assessment or receiving third party certification
• more than 40 wineries are certified sustainable.
The group also announced plans to establish the Sonoma County Center for Ag Sustainability “to enable winegrowers to identify and focus on the most challenging problems facing the local wine community to ensure its continued success and the preservation of Sonoma County’s agricultural heritage.”
The center will serve as a “strategic think tank,” and the growers’ group hired George Day, a professor emeritus at The Wharton School of Business, to facilitate and manage the strategic planning of the new endeavor. The project is expected to last two years and bring together a small group of leaders and experts from various fields and industries “to problem solve and develop new, fresh ideas that will advance farming not only in Sonoma County, but may also revolutionize grape growing and the larger wine industry across the globe.”
