Fetzer Vineyards: Dedicated to Producing Eco-Friendly Wines

Issue 2 - 2009

Fetzer Vineyards’ sustainability director Ann Thrupp, PhD, works for an award-winning winery where she focuses a great deal of her time on nurturing the vineyards through creative water conservation. As California is responsible for more than 90 percent of U.S. wine production, her innovative solutions are being watched closely throughout the industry.

Since 1999, Fetzer’s water use, drawn chiefly from the Russian River, has been reduced by 24 percent, largely through upgrading its irrigation methods. That’s 6.6 million gallons per year, enough water to supply over 30 families for an entire year. “Using too much water is irresponsible,” says Thrupp. “There’s a struggle for resources these days, and water is a high priority. We’re constantly looking for ways to improve, and once we find them, we make it a priority to share them with our fellow growers.”  

In the winter, when vines are dormant, water demands are low. With spring rains, there can be long periods of time when no supplemental irrigation is needed. “Here in Mendocino County, May through August is when we have extreme dryness, and that’s when our water-consciousness is heightened,” explains Thrupp. The best solution is drip irrigation.

To avoid overwatering, Fetzer Vineyards relies primarily on an array of sophisticated monitoring instruments that collect, store and transmit “real-time” information about soil moisture, humidity, temperature, wind speed and direction. This data allows the vineyard manager to gauge vine conditions and watering needs. Properly measured watering creates a better quality fruit and prevents stressing the vines. 

Inside the winery, ozonated water is used for rinsing and cleaning tanks, bins, crushers, and barrels. It’s a purification technique that doesn’t harm the wood and is safe for employees to handle. “Ozonated water eliminates bacteria in the yeast and presents a really good alternative to the use of chlorine and other caustic chemicals, and the on-site well water is made safe to recycle without further treatment through a simple environmentally friendly ultraviolet filtering system,” adds Thrupp.  

Another water-saver is the use of steam sterilization instead of hot water at the bottling facility. Steam sterilization not only does a better job, it consumes minimal water. New high-pressure, low-flow nozzles used in barrel washing also eliminate waste. 

One hundred percent of the winery’s wastewater is recycled. Four wastewater ponds fed by the production facilities have been converted into a natural system that employs gravel, sand filters, and a planted reed bed to treat and decompose organic waste. Low-energy aeration does the rest. And the treated water can then be used to irrigate the vineyard grounds and gardens. Absolutely no discharge is released to the Russian River.

Fetzer’s vineyard manager Dave Koball — known as Mr. Water to policymakers and growers — has taken a leadership role in sharing the techniques of Fetzer with water policymakers to demonstrate their prudent use of precious water allocations.

Notes Thrupp, “With the environmental challenges we’re facing, it’s wonderful to work with an industry, a community and a company eager to make a lasting difference.”