Green revolutionaries: West Coast wine growers fight to save the environment

Wine Spectator, June 2007
Drive up Napa Valley’s Highway 29 in the springtime, and you can witness a revolution. In one vineyard, the vines stretch in neat lines, bare dirt beneath them, some short grass down the middle of rows. No birds or other wildlife are evident. But across the road, bright yellow mustard and tall grasses obscure gnarled vine stumps. A few birds swoop by, chasing insects, while two hawks circle above. The shift from controlled and barren to wild and full of life reflects an increasing change in the way grapes are grown and wines are made… While the Pacific Northwest’s path to sustainability in many ways mirrors California’s, Oregon’s wine growers have focused more on voluntary certification. They’ve gotten on board with the Salmon-Safe program, launched by a conservation organization in 1995…

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