The second seminar I attended at VanWineFest 2025 was the “Three Rings of Sustainability“. Dr. Monique Bell (Professor of Marketing, Fresno State University) and Dr. Damien Wilson (Hamel Family Faculty Chair of Wine Business, Sonoma State University) lead a panel of principals as they explored the three rings of sustainability – environmental, social, and economic. We learned how sustainable wine goes beyond eco-conscious practices, supporting community well-being and financial resilience.
The winery principals for this seminar were Chris Benziger, Genevieve Boisvert, Andrea Card, David Gates, Billy Grant, Bob Knebel, and Dan Walsh.
Featured Wines
Jackson Family Wines Diatom Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2023 (Dan Walsh)
Francis Ford Coppola Winery Director’s Cut Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 (Andrea Card)
McPrice Myers Beautiful Earth Paso Robles Red 2022 (Billy Grant)
Ridge Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 (David Gates)
Rombauer Vineyards Zinfandel 2021 (Bob Knebel)
Wente Vineyards Mount Diablo Highlands Red Blend 2021 (Genevieve Boisvert)
The Wine Group Benziger Family Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 (Chris Benziger)
Dr. Bell began the seminar by discussing social sustainability. She first covered the definition of social sustainability as described by the United Nations.
Stakeholders are important to any decision, social or financial, affecting a company. Dr. Bell then drilled down to three sectors of social responsibility: Society, Employees, and Consumers. She noted that under society, you can view wine’s health effects on communities and quality of life, how wine can support social causes, investments in communities, Diversity Equality and Inclusion (DEI), who gets to enjoy wine, and much more. Under employees, Dr. Bell discussed wineries managing immigration labour and housing, fair labour prices, human rights in general, employee health, wellness and safety, satisfying work and opportunities for advanced, fair pay and more. For consumers, Dr. Bell noted that there are many multicultural consumers (who are also in the Millennial and Gen-Z age groups), such as Asian-American, African-American, and Hispanic that all have many trillions of dollars in buying power, but have some hesitation to drink wine, whether they are under-represented in the wine industry or bad retail experiences. She further noted that wineries could create more inclusive environments, have more satisfying experiences for consumers, appreciate diverse cultures, and more.
Dr. Bell then moved on to the business case for social responsibility. She noted if inclusion is emphasized, it can reduce attrition risk by 50% and it increases adaptability. People aged 22-30, she noted that pay transparency (67%), parental leave benefits (49%) and diversity initiatives (49%) were more important considerations compared to the overall average according to a SevenFifty Daily Beverage Industry Career & Salary Survey (2023). There has been emerging consumer activism toward businesses, such as boycotting Target due to them dropping DEI initiatives. From a survey, more than three-quarters of people feel that CEOs of businesses should address societal issues if they can make a major impact. She noted that sustainability also takes into account future outcomes. One third globally thinks the next generation will be better off than we are today.
So, what can we do about social responsibility? How do we enact socially responsible acts? Dr. Bell gave us a few examples, such as a wine shop to make it easy for people, especially novices, to navigate their store. The wine shop also offered scholarships to increase diversity and partnered with wineries. Another example was a nonalcoholic wine firm. The company advertising shows people across all genders, lifestyles, etc. to show their inclusivity.
Having a way to measure or show your social responsibility can also be done through known metrics, such as getting B-Corporation Certification, following the UN Global Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring a Global Living Range, or registering with LODI Rules, amongst other options. A winery can start with small goals then grow to larger goals.
Dr. Wilson closed the session by discussing financial / economic sustainability. He noted that we are slowly getting better at enviornmental sustainability. Recycling for example is now demanded by people. What are the appeals to sustainability for businesses? For organic farming there is the cost of learning, of change. You have to look at the reduce in cost over time. Organic practices cost reductions over time are now a verifiable and testable, as well as for energy use and water efficiency. Ecosystem regeneration, where regenerative farming falls, helping pollinators, rebuilding an ecosystem, are emotionally appealing for potential customers, who may also be visitors to the wineries.
Sustainability certification has many certifying agencies, which may or may not be well-known. Also there is the cost of certification, which may be too high at the moment for some wineries. Some wineries may undertake sustainable practices but do not go ahead with the certification process. Economic sustainability refers to the on-going financial viability of these socially and environmentally sustainable practices. Since 2000, global vineyard area has been going down, yet production and apparent consumption of wine has remained static. Export value of wines has tripled around the world. Since 2000, global exports have grown from mainly Europe to countries around the world. Dr. Wilson noted that lately we have been having supply chain issues which has downwardly affected volume of wine delivered.
From USA data, he noted that over the last five years, wineries have increased their profit by increasing the price of their wines as well as increasing tasting room fees, regardless that there are fewer consumers and total volume of wine has gone down. These increased prices have made it harder for new, young, wine consumers to onboard.
How do we counteract these higher prices and bring in new consumers? How do we connect and communicate with new consumers? We need to use language, imagery, and platforms that young consumers use. Question traditional approaches to bringing in new consumers. One example would be to offer more virtual tastings. This was used during COVID but is not as widely used now. New consumers communicate online now. They are always on their phones texting each other or on social media channels sharing. Virtual tastings is online communication and creates a sense of community. Don’t force young people to communicate like us, like Boomers. Face-to-face is not the way young people communicate. If the virtual tastings have waned at your winery, what have you done to change what you do in the tasting? Is it always the same? Did you change topics for tastings? In a tasting room, how do you engage a younger customer? Do you give them the same speech as you would a boomer? Or did you try to engage them by finding out about what they did that day, what brought you here, what are you going to do in the area?
Adopt evidence-based decision making. Don’t follow what others do. Check to see what works for you with your customers.
Winery Principal Comments and My Wine Tasting Notes
In between Dr. Bell’s and Dr. Wilson’s presentations, we heard from the winery principals discussing environmental sustainability and their wines.
Jackson Family Wines Diatom Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2023 – Jess Jackson in 1970s he was a farmer and taught his family to care of the land and they are still stewards of the land. The family now owns 45,000 acres of land with one third dedicated to vineyards. All vineyards are certified sustainable. they use low input agriculture. Regenerative agriculture is their next step in farming. They are partnering with UC Davis to put forth the best practices for regenerative farming. They are the largest owner of 100% certified organic vineyards in Napa Valley. They are working at certifying 20% of their Sonoma vineyards where they are the largest grape grower, starting with their Sara Lee Vineyard. Sara Lee was a pioneer in agriculture in Sonoma. They are determining how they can sequester carbon at that vineyard and better manage water retention.
It has a bright, clear, medium intensity lemon colour. Medium-plus aromas of sweet ripe stone fruits. Dry, medium body with a lean and smooth mouthfeel. Pears and apples on the palate, plus touches of pepper and sweet spices. Medium acidity. A quality wine. 
Francis Ford Coppola Winery Director’s Cut Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 – This winery and their vineyards are certified sustainable. The winery is also certified organic. They work with bees and are certified bee-friendly. The bees are part of the ecosystem. The winery allows the bees to forage in the vineyard. They are creating spaces untouched by the winery so that they create a permanent habitat for the bees. The winery is also fish-friendly farming that helps having a healthy watershed and clean water. They are concentrating on the Russian River Valley watershed. Together these smaller certifications combined makes a bigger impact. Another small item that they are working on is the use of the small metal capsules that cover the top of wine bottles. They are donating the proceeds of recycyling all the capsules to a local non-profit for teachers so the teachers can purchase items for their classrooms.
This wine has a deep garnet colour. Light red fruit aromas plus a touch of sweet spices. Medium-plus body, smooth with a thicker mouthfeel. Medium acidity and soft tannins. Juicy berry fruits, some vanilla and pepperiness on the palate. Medium-plus length with juicy berries and pepperiness on the finish. Tannins firm up on the finish as well. Good quality.
McPrice Myers Beautiful Earth Paso Robles Red 2022 – participates in regenerative farming. It takes lots of time and maybe they have contributed an inch of top soil over a decade. It was noted that there was heavy downpours in Paso Robles and they could not check their vineyards, some which are on steep slopes, until the rains stopped. When they checked, they were happy to see that their vineyard did not get eroded. So regenerative farming worked for them in this regard. They are not certified organic, but have been working on it over ten years, and eventually will be certified. They support sustainability in all aspects of their winey and vineyard. They have owl boxes and bee hives at the vineyard that help with pest management and pollination of native plants. They built a culture that supports their employees and also recycle the wine bottle capsules like the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. They no longer wax dip the necks of some of their bottles as that hinders the recycling of the bottles. They use recycled paper for their wine labels and use lighter glass bottles. The lighter glass bottles also made shipping easier as they can add more bottles to a shipment which saves on fuel transportation costs. All little things that together make a larger impact.
This wine combines 58% Syrah, 18% Grenache, 8% Petite Sirah, 7% Mourvèdre, 7% Zinfandel, and 2% Cinsault. It is opaque garnet colour in the glass. Light aromas of ripe berry fruit, milk chocolate and nutmeg. This wine is dry, medium-plus body with a smooth, round mouthfeel. Juicy berry fruits and light pepperiness on the palate. Medium tannins and medium-plus acidity. Medium length. The wine gets more peppery, and you also taste candied cherries toward the finish. Another quality wine.
Ridge Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 – Ridge Vineyards is a 100% certified organic winery and all their contract growers are certified sustainable. Their current initiative relates to packaging. They are replacing traditional wooden boxes for red wines with recycled cardboard. They have two wineries; One in Santa Cruz Mountains in Montebello and the other in Lytton Springs in Sonoma County. They have a 19th century cellar at Montebello, but no cellar at Lytton Springs as there is groundwater so they made a cellars from straw bales at ground level. They are a member of the International Wineries for Climate Acquisition. This forces you to review your operation from top to bottom. The winery undertook a carbon farm plan. They did this in Sonoma. The vineyards as they do not cycle, like grain farming, the vines sequester carbon. The carbon farm plan shows wine grape growing is very good at sequestering carbon. They are not resting on their initatives. They are always looking at what they can improve.
This wine is a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon and 16% Merlot from the Santa Cruz Mountains, aged for nineteen months in barrel with minimal intervention. It has an opaque ruby colour. Medium intensity, alluring cedar, nutmeg and ripe black fruit aromas. Dry, medium body, smooth with a light mouthfeel. Medium acidity and fine tannins. Ripe dark fruit and cedar on the palate. The tannins get quite strong on the finish. A wine that can be aged, 10-15 years to reach its peak quality.
Rombauer Vineyards Zinfandel 2021 – They are a sustainable certifed winery and vineyard, and certified bee-friendly and fish-friendly farming. We are reminded that winemaking is farming and you need to care of the land. No-till agriculture and cover crops in the vineyards. They also utilize sheep. Water was an important aspect. They measure their water usage through sophisticated sensors in the vineyard so that they can better arrange their irrigation infrastructure, minimizing use as much as possible. They use about half the water than other wineries use in the winery. 60% of the electricity in the winery comes from solar panels. They also use lighter weight bottles. Again many small tasks together make a bigger impact.
This wine has a medium intensity, clear garnet colour in the glass. Cedar, nutmeg and red fruits on the nose. It is a very aromatic wine. Dry, lighter body with a lean, soft mouthfeel. Ripe berry fruits, cedar and nutmeg flavours with pepperiness building toward the finish. Medium-plus length. Some sweet ripe berry fruits and slightly stronger tannins on the finish.
Wente Vineyards Mount Diablo Highlands Red Blend 2021 – Both their vineyard and winery are certified sustainable. They have been sustainably farming since inception in 1883. They are up to their fifth generation running the winery. Sustainability also includes their employees, partners, and consumers. They also careful with energy conservation and water management. They reuse water as much as possible. They use cover crops to help maintain the soil and biodiversity. They use no-till to keep the carbon in the soil. They are very happy that one of their latest acquisitions for the vineyard is an electric tractor further reducing carbon emissions. It is also a self-driving tractor! It takes pictures of the vineyard as it is driving in the vineyard so their viticulturalists can view these digital pictures and get a better idea of what is happening in the vineyard without also walking through it. Anything that needs to be addressed can be addressed promptly.
This red blend combines 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Petit Verdot, 16% Merlot, and 11% Barbera. Each variety was fermented separately in stainless steel tanks with twice-daily pump overs to enhance flavour, aroma, and texture.
This is a new wine for the winery. The first new wine in a decade. It has a deeper, clear garnet colour. Medium intensity juicy berries and a touch of sweet spice aromas. Medium body, smooth and round. Raspberries, and other red fruits, plus touches of sweet spices and pepper on the alate. Medium acidity and tannins. Medium length with a dry finish, with red cherries.
The Wine Group Benziger Family Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 – They were one of the first wineries in California to be certified biodynamic. Farming is resource intensive and you need to replace that biological capital or else the land will stop being productive. One way to do this is having sheep grazing in the vineyard. Their hooves push debris in the soil eliminating mildew, they eat the grasses, so no need to spray herbicide, fertilize the soil with dung, and are lighter than tractors so they minimize soil compaction. This overall reduces the cost of people labour to go into the vineyard to cut grasses, etc. Benzinger have over 100 sheep and have been using sheep for over 25 years. From December to April the sheep are in the vineyard before bud break. They also have cows and use their manure in compost to use in the vineyard. They plant cover crops, like bell beans and fava beans that fix nitrogen into the soil to replace the nitrogen that has been used up by the vines.
This wine is opaque garnet in the glass. Lighter aromas of red fruit and sweet spices, nutmeg in particular. This wine is dry, medium body, with a smooth, soft, light mouthfeel. Juicy red fruits, nutmeg, red cherries and pepperiness on the palate. Very tasty fruit flavours. – 
This was a very informative seminar. Lots of dense information and things to think about to engage your wine customers and grow your customer base. Thank you to the Vancouver International Wine Festival for offering me a seat to attend this seminar.
