North Bay Business Journal

More than an environmentally friendly gesture, an increasing number of North Bay businesses are pursuing renewable energy development as a way to reduce costs and improve their bottom line.

Rohnert Park-based Stellar Energy, a solar energy engineering, procurement and construction provider, installed a 454-kilowatt photovoltaic electricity system at Jordan Vineyard & Winery in Healdsburg.

The Business Journal asked the four members of the Direct Sales and Social Media panel for the upcoming Wine Industry Conference 2011 about trends in sales of wine directly to consumers and use of social media in that endeavor.

Smartphones and social media are being employed in new ways as many wineries increase their use of the latest technology to reach consumers and maintain control of branding — all across the U.S. To add your experience, comment on this story.

Following are profiles of the top day-to-day leaders from the Business Journal’s lists of the largest independently owned wineries under 100,000 cases, published in March, and the largest wine companies, published in May.

NORTH BAY – Wineries are starting to make extensive use of the Internet and social networks to keep in touch with customers.