April Nalle from Nalle Winery, who make brilliant Zinfandel (also great Pinot noir, blends, Cabernet and more) in an old-school style, is a good friend with whom I speak often. April has had some really big moments lately, where she’s gone from just being concerned about climate change to being inspired to be a change agent. She’s at the beginning of her journey and I wanted to get her at this point to tell us how it all starts.

 

In this show we talk about how to make a vineyard more environmentally friendly, so we are joined by vigneron Whitney Hopkins of Hopkins River Ranch in the Russian River, who farms the land mainly organically . April and her husband Andrew Nalle buy Pinot Noir from Whitney and her father, who farm the ranch together.

Whitney Hopkins of Hopkins River Ranch, Left. April Nalle, of Nalle Winery, Right

 

This show should give you insight into where the wine industry needs to make improvements in the fight against climate change and where it’s already doing a pretty good job.

Warning: This is a dorky discussion!!!

 

Here are the notes:

• April discusses a revelation moment she had after reading the book “Under the Sky We Make: How to Be Human in a Warming World” and why she feels it is so important to take bolder action in the wine world to help ameliorate the impacts of climate change. We discuss the lack of water in California and some of the impacts of that in farming.

 

• We discuss the ways small wineries like Nalle and smaller vineyards like Hopkins River Ranch are already planet friendly:

• April talks about Nalle’s living roof, dry farming, dust mulching, and how living where you farm makes a huge difference in how you treat the land.
• Whitney discusses the use of organic products, using manual labor to avoid the use of pesticides and herbicides, and new innovations like electric mowers/tillers that get under vine rows without gas emissions.

The Nalle Family: 5 Generations of Farming. Photo courtesy of Nalle

 

• We talk about why a small winery or vineyard often can’t afford the time or money it takes to go through and maintain an organic or biodynamic certification. Hopkins Ranch is farmed almost all organically but Whitney doesn’t have time to add certification paperwork to her workload. In addition, in areas with wet weather, it can be very hard to commit to only organic practices when doing so may mean that you lose an entire crop. Sustainability is a pyramid – social, economic, and environmental concerns are all part of it. Losing a crop could mean losing a business so flexibility with the goal of being as gentle as possible with your land has to be the way for many small wineries.

 

• We get to the brass tacks: Whitney and April address the question of how much the vineyard really contributes environmental issues? It turns out that although refinement and changes need to continue – we need to use more electric vehicles in the vineyard and to drive around, to find products that can deal effectively and gently with vineyard hazards (mildew, mold, insects), and to continually adjust – the biggest ecological issues in wine are on the winery and sales side.

 

Hopkins Ranch, Russian River Valley, Photo courtesy of Nalle 

 

• We talk about the list of things that April wants to do for now (it’s a wish list, again small wineries have fewer resources): use only refillable bottles for Nalle, change the labels, use electric vehicles for transport, do less tilling and more manual work in the vineyard, and add solar panels to the winery. Whitney discusses how water and drought are such issues that the Hopkins are working with the local government to tap into the recycled  water program.

Nalle's traditional label may need to change when refillable bottles are the norm

 

• We wrap with some tips on how tell if a winery is giving you marketing BS about being green or whether they are the real deal.

 

Thanks to Whitney and April for their candor. I love that I got some answers on the impacts of the vineyard. As we turn our focus to the winery, we’ll make sure to track April’s changes in the winery at Nalle and tracks the outcomes of doing better for the planet.

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