21 years of being green

Napa River

Napa River is Impaired

Napa River declared by EPA as impaired due to excessive sediment loading.

NVV works towards watershed health

Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) convenes more than a dozen community environmental and leadership organizations, including Napa RCD and Napa Valley Grapegrowers, to develop a program to work with growers to enhance watershed health.

Napa Green Land

NVV and other community organizations launch Napa Green Land, focused on helping growers proactively prevent erosion and keep soil onsite, primarily by working with the partner program Fish Friendly Farming. Read more below.

Napa Green Winery

NVV launches the Napa Green Winery program (note that Napa Green’s Executive Director Anna Brittain and her then business partner John Garn, were the two consultants who helped to design the Winery program)

NVV Participation Goals

NVV sets the goal to have all of their members participating in the Napa Green Land and/or Winery program by 2020. Anna and John were again engaged to help grow the program.

Napa RCD’s LandSmart

Napa Resource Conservation District’s (RCD) LandSmart program is recognized as a second pathway to address erosion and runoff and achieve Napa Green Land.

Leading IRAs Developed

Napa Green launches “Integrated Resource Assessments” led by Engineer Bill Bennett – one-stop energy, water, waste diversion, and Scope 1 & 2 emissions reviews that baseline and track key metrics. As of 2024 Napa Green has completed >240 IRAs.

Regional Water Board

Regional Water Board adopts General Permit vineyard Waste Discharge Requirements, making the erosion control practices included in Napa Green Land certification (i.e., LandSmart or Fish Friendly Farming) a requirement for regulatory compliance by 2020.
Anna Brittain in front of rocks and water

independent non-profit

In fall 2019 Napa Green becomes an independent non-profit, led by Executive Director Anna Brittain.

Megan Scott joins team

Napa Green hires Megan Scott to manage the Napa Green Winery program, IRAs, website development, and social media.

NVV member participation

94% of NVV members participating in Napa Green Land and/or Napa Green Winery.

Napa Green Land Evolves

The Napa Green Land program is shuttered, as erosion control is now a regulatory requirement for all growers >5 acres. Replaced by next-level Napa Green Vineyard certification.

New Napa Green Vineyard

New Napa Green Vineyard standards are released, addressing the critical issues of today and tomorrow – regenerative farming, climate action, and social equity. Napa Green Vineyard is a whole-property certification that facilitates regenerative, climate-smart viticultural practices, and includes custom Carbon Farm Plans and Irrigation Distribution Uniformity Assessments.

The team grows

Napa Green hires Ben Mackie as the Vineyard Program Manager for the new Napa Green Vineyard certification, and Meghan Vergara as Social Media Manager.

Six pillars developed

Anna Brittain develops the Six Pillars of Sustainable Winegrowing Leadership: Water Efficiency; Energy Efficiency; Supply Chain & Waste Prevention; Proactive Farming, Soil Health & Biodiversity; Social Justice, Diversity & Inclusion; all under the umbrella of Climate Action & Regenerative Agriculture.
Napa Green Certified Sign in front of a vineyard

Specialty Crop Block Grant

Napa Green receives $490,000 CA Dept. of Food & Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant to grow the new Napa Green Vineyard program and support implementation of regenerative farming practices.

first certified Vineyards

Opus One, Spottswoode Estate, and Dominus Estate are the first three properties to achieve Napa Green Vineyard certification.

Sierra Minchaca joins team

Napa Green hires Sierra Minchaca as Climate & Soil Specialist to provide additional boots on the ground support to growers.

climate & wine symposium

Napa Green launches inaugural THRIVES (now RISE) Climate & Wine Symposium, a series of six half-day events organized around the Six Pillars of Sustainable Winegrowing Leadership, with over 65 speakers, 40 sponsors, and 600 guests. Keynotes include Climate Writer & Activist Bill McKibben and New York Times Wine Writer Eric Asimov.

Marisa Taylor joins team

Napa Green hires winemaker Marisa Taylor as Winery & Climate Specialist to help lead winery IRAs and certification.

RISE Symposium

Napa Green organizes second RISE Climate & Wine Symposium, with over 70 speakers and 750 guests, and more than a dozen winery commitments to action. Keynotes include Wine Writer Jancis Robinson and regenerative leader Mimi Casteel.
Anna Future 40 2023

Wine Enthusiast Future 40

Executive Director Anna Brittain named Wine Enthusiast Future 40 Tastemaker, and Wine Business Monthly Wine Industry Leader.

phaseout of Roundup

Napa Green becomes first sustainable winegrowing certification globally to require the phaseout of Roundup/ glyphosate by Jan. 1, 2026, and all synthetic herbicides by Jan. 1, 2028.

Imbibe 75 Changemakers

Anna Brittain named among Imbibe 75 “People and places that will change the way you drink.”

80 vineyards certified

Napa Green achieves milestone of 80 vineyards and 40 growers certified as climate-smart Napa Green Vineyards.

Beyond Green launches

Napa Green nonprofit announces expansion beyond Napa under the non-regional brand of “BEYOND GREEN,” providing the opportunity for vineyards and wineries throughout the North Coast to join this rigorous, climate-smart certification program.

Climate Smart Commodities grant

Napa Green receives $2.4 million National Association of Conservation Districts Climate Smart Commodities grant to expand Napa Green and RISE GREEN support to growers throughout the North Coast, including technical assistance and financial incentives for implementation of climate smart, regenerative farming practices.

HISTORY OF NAPA GREEN LAND

The Napa Green Land (NGL) program was originally developed by the Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) in collaboration with more than 30 local environmental, community and regulatory stakeholders in the early 2000s. Because the Napa River was known to have excessive sediment at that time, NGL was originally developed for participants to meet and exceed environmental compliance standards to prevent erosion and improve the overall health of the Napa River watershed.

Beginning in 2004, NGL functionally acted as an umbrella program that recognized growers who were third-party certified through a program called “Fish Friendly Farming” (FFF), customized for the Napa County regulatory context. In 2016, NGL recognition expanded to include LandSmart, an open-source program managed by the Napa County Resource Conservation District (RCD), designed with similar goals and best practices to facilitate compliance and watershed stewardship.

In 2017, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board adopted vineyard Waste Discharge Requirements (WDR), which applied to all Napa and Sonoma County vineyard watershed properties of five or more acres. Both of the pathways recognized by NGL – FFF and LandSmart – provided participating growers with certified farm plans that met the WDR requirements and facilitated this new level of regulatory compliance.

All things must grow and evolve. For over 16 years the original Napa Green Land model has done great things to prevent erosion, improve the health of our watershed and help the Napa River begin to rebound. Now we must shift our attention to two of the most critical issues facing our industry: climate action and social equity.

Learn more about the leading standards of the Napa Green Vineyard Certification and Napa Green Winery Certification.