We at Wasson and Munselle Vineyards are always looking for ways to be even more environmentally friendly and responsible. We are always looking for opportunities to lesson our impacts on the land, air, and water, and to improve our stewardship of the vineyards. These resources are our lively hood and passion, and we feel a great responsibility to tend them carefully.
Back in 2004, Bret spent many hours participating in a “Code of Sustainable Agriculture Evaluation”. This made us really think about and reevaluate many of our practices here on the ranch. In the last few years we have under taken many projects as a result of this evaluation.
In 2006, we installed a solar system on the farm shop. This has reduced our reliance on the utility grid and produces clean electric power. This is a long term investment in clean solar power.
In 2008, with the help of the Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution Control District we replace two of our older diesel pump engines with new cleaner running low emissions engines (tier 3 engines). They are the most advanced engines available at this time.
We are now using more cover crops in the vineyards to improve soil structure and improve organic matter content. This will give us healthier soils and reduce the use of non organic fertilizers. Erosion control is a nice bonus of the cover crops.
Installation of a “Time of use” electric meter to one of our vineyards has been a great success. We have been able to fully automate our irrigation system. Now we only irrigate at night cutting down our utility bills and using less water. By irrigating at night we don’t lose any water to evaporation.
We have been very successful with our blue bird, bat and owl house program. By providing boxes and houses for these natural predators we can reduce our use of other insect control methods. Bill builds these in the winter time. A nice side benefit is it keeps Bill out of trouble when he gets house bound.
Using 50% recycled glass in our wine bottles, reusing steel grape stakes, when we replace a field, and installing low flow toilets in all ranch houses are a few other things we have done. Every aspect of our farm is constantly looked at so we can improve our environmental foot print.
In our largest project to date we are working with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) to purchase three wind machines. These wind machines will be used for frost protection. This will help us conserve water, we currently use over head sprinklers for frost protection.
When you enjoy a glass of Munselle Vineyards wine with family and friends it’s nice to know these wines come from people who love the land and are dedicated to environmentally sound practices.
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