Fetzer Vineyards in Mendocino County gets regenerative organic agriculture certification

Fetzer Vineyards has achieved Regenerative Organic Certified for all of its Mendocino County vineyard holdings and winery.

The Hopldand-based vintner stated it is the world’s largest to obtain that certification, and is the third winery to be verified under the standard, which publicly debuted in 2020. The protocol is intended for food, beverage, textile and personal care products. It “assures shoppers certified farms and products meet the highest standards environmentally, ethically and socially,” the winery stated.

“ROC was created because regenerative organic agriculture has the potential to address many of today’s pressing problems, including the climate crisis, factory farming, and fractured rural economies,” said Elizabeth Whitlow, executive director of the Santa Rosa-based Regenerative Organic Alliance, which administers the certification. “If we adopt regenerative organic practices on more farms, we’ll see improvements to soil health, the well-being of animals, farmers, workers, and the climate itself. I applaud Fetzer Vineyards’ achievement of ROC Silver, which is challenging for any farm and especially so given the size and scale of Fetzer Vineyards’ farming and winery operation.”

Fetzer Vineyards first began farming organically in 1987. In 2020, the winery declared a climate emergency and committed to becoming climate positive in its operations by 2030.

“We need to diminish, if not entirely eliminate, the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers that raise our GHG emissions, harm our biodiversity, contaminate our air and waters, and damage our communities,” notes Joseph Brinkley, director of regenerative farming for Fetzer Vineyards, whose role includes advocating for healthy soils legislation and advancing the company’s position on climate policy generally. “