Sustainable Farming at Chateau Montelena - Fall 2007
 The general concept of sustainability is a complex subject, often touching on issues of environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity. It is a reality to be reckoned with in many industries and, by the potentially global nature of its reach, in one way or another will affect all 6 billion people on the planet.
In the world of winemaking sustainable farming is an increasingly popular practice, though not yet universal. For decades, farming sustainably has played an essential role in Chateau Montelena's modern history, supporting our goal to achieve excellence in winemaking.
Sustainable farming is our modus operandi, and consists of natural practices designed to maintain a healthy balance in the vineyard. Vineyard Manager Dave Vella says, "It begins and ends with the health of the soil, achieving and maintaining balance in nutrients, minerals, and microbial life. The ideal result is a healthy grapevine with controllable vigor." While this may be the objective of anyone who farms wine grapes, the difference is how, and how long, we have gone about accomplishing this.
Dave joined us in 1985 to work with and ultimately succeed John Rolleri, our original vineyard manager, who was at that time within a year of retirement. The vineyard blocks that John turned over to Dave had been replanted in the early 1970s, when owner Jim Barrett acquired and revitalized the Estate. Their sheer productive longevity in delivering grapes that could be transformed into world class wines, year after year, bears testament to how successfully they are farmed.
We have learned that paying attention pays off. Every year - combined, Dave and Winemaker Bo Barrett have spent 57 years on the Estate - we test and profile each block to track its wine-growing capabilities. "Feed the soil, feed the plant," says Dave. But since Montelena Estate is a complex system, no one solution will work everywhere.
For example, nutrient levels and water holding capacity vary greatly among the three soil origins - volcanic, alluvial, and sedimentary - that comprise the Estate vineyard. These areas are, in turn, crisscrossed by 5 different classified soil types: Bale, Cole, Cortina, Pleasanton, and Kidd. Add a topographic variation, like an elevated hillside or a level valley floor location, and you have a three-dimensional decision matrix. Once we understand each particular site, we can proceed to sustainable grape growing.
At the most basic level, wine grape growing consists of plant nourishment and protection from disease and pests. Our sustainable farming protocol calls for avoidance of any chemical fertilizers. We use a mixture of chicken manure and compost made with the previous season's pomace - seeds, stems, and grape skins left after crushing and pressing. Rather than pesticides, we use ladybugs and other natural tactics to combat unwanted pests. Instead of herbicides, we use a French plow to keep the vineyard clean and free of weeds.
 We also analyze our soils to determine if there are areas that need application of minerals and nutrients. Even here we do it naturally. One example is by planting clover, which is a very effective nitrogen-fixing plant species that can replenish this essential element. Canopy management and organic fungicide application help us control mildew. Mowing and tilling plants underground in the late spring reintroduces organic matter to the soil. Even the compound we apply to roads that intersect the vineyard blocks, in order to control dust, is an environmentally neutral, non-toxic substance.
Water management at Montelena Estate is critical, considering both our responsibility to conserve where possible and also to optimize plant health. We utilize dry farming, irrigating new vines to get them established, or replenishing water to vines that show signs of undue stress during heat events. Finally, our conversion to 100% solar power in 2007 represents a major commitment to working with the assets that Mother Nature provides - in this case sunlight - in order to be self sustaining.
We completed the installation of our 220 kilowatt solar electric system in May. By converting to 100% solar power at the Estate, Chateau Montelena will lower carbon dioxide emissions by 6,625 tons, a reduction equivalent to the air-filtering power of 40,000 trees over the next 25 years. This new, eco-friendly technology is useful, and cost effective, but as Winemaker Bo Barrett says, "It will never replace terroir and technique in our goal to make world class wines."
We constantly experiment to discover improvements in the vineyard. New rootstock and clonal selections, closer row and vine spacing, and vertical trellising systems have all emerged from these efforts. We have learned from experience that achieving sustainable excellence in the vineyard will lead to sustained excellence in the bottle.
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