Sustainable Farming
Certified Vineyards
As of 2008, 100% of Mendocino Wine Co.’s estate vineyards are certified organic. Their partners’ family-owned vineyards are certified Biodynamic®, organic or Fish Friendly Farming.
Local Family Farms
We make wine with grapes from our vineyards, as well as from other family-owned and farmed Mendocino vineyards. If you stand on the top peak of our winery rooftop (not recommended, for safety reasons!) you can see 90% of our family farmed vineyards. Buying local supports our agricultural community on a direct, local level. And because the grapes don’t have to travel far, we have more control over quality, and burn less fossil fuel.
Mendocino Wine Co. assists our local farmers to pursue certification. Today over 75% of the grapes brought into the winery are certified Biodynamic®, Organic or Fish Friendly Farming.
In The Vineyards
Walk through our vineyards and you’ll find a scene quite different from conventionally farmed rows of chemically-treated vines standing in bare soil. Sustainable farming means working with, not against, nature. As you wander between our rows of vines, you’ll find a vibrant living community.
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Mendocino Wine Co. uses natural amendments such as animal manure and byproducts of winemaking
(pomace) rather than man-made fertilizers. -
We annually compost 2.1 million pounds of pomace (grape seeds, stems and skins) recovered from the winemaking process which in turn provides rich fertilizer for our vineyards.
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Cover crops, such as clover, oats and bell beans, are planted between vineyard rows to enrich the soil and prevent erosion.
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Manual and mechanical methods are used instead of chemicals for weed control.
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Mendocino Wine Co. encourages non-toxic methods of regulating vineyard pests by creating wildlife corridors and encouraging natural predators in the vineyard. Owl boxes provide nests for owl families that feed on vine-damaging rodents. A single owl can eat 50 lbs of gophers in a season. Mendocino Wine Co. plants insectaries (bug farms) to attract beneficial insects and installs bird boxes to
house insect predators. -
Biodiesel is used to power winery equipment such as vineyard tractors and water pumps. Biodiesel is a biodegradable, non-toxic, renewable resource with lower emissions than petroleum diesel.
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We avoid the use of pollutants that harm the environment and deplete the soil such as toxic- synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, bioengineering, ionizing radiation, and GMOs.
