Napa’s Fish Friendly Farming certification program hits ‘silver’ level benchmark in sustainability
Upon recent review by the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform, the Fish Friendly Farming Certification Program has officially enrolled a majority of the vineyards in Napa County and achieved a "Silver Level" certification.
The SAI Platform — a global third-party organization — reviews how farms handle concerns like supply-chain issues, working conditions, animal welfare, legal compliance, community-building and climate resilience using its Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) benchmark. After assessing the Fish Friendly Farming (FFF) Certification Program's impact in Northern California, SAI Platform deemed the 200,000 acres of FFF-enrolled land in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties on-par with their principles.
"These SAI Platform standards and benchmarking address environmental, social, labor, community, business and government issues," explained Laurel Marcus, executive director for the California Land Stewardship Institute (CLSI) and author of the FFF program. "It is very comprehensive."
The FFF is also inherently comprehensive, though, which is part of the reason it has been so effective at pulling in people from all corners of Napa to collaborate and practice environmental stewardship. Since being introduced into the valley in 2002, the FFF program has grown to include hundreds of wineries and vineyards dedicated to conservation, helping them apply for project grants, gain permits and earn their own certifications.
A current list of certified wineries includes Treasury, Beckstoffer, Beringer, and Robert Mondavi.
The FFF prides itself on its relationship with the growers themselves, who often know their land better than any outsider could. With a collaborative and empirically-based approach, the FFF is able to assist farmers rather than stop them in their tracks.
"The FFF program is based on science, and when we work with growers, we explain the science to them and come up with site specific solutions that, for example, address erosion along a road or a creek," said Marcus. "This approach is important to growers, as they have a say in creating solutions, and they understand the reasons for changing their management practices."
This was especially clear to Matt Crafton, winemaker for Chateau Montelena in Calistoga, when the FFF program worked alongside him to certify the winery's various vineyards.
"They understand the farming and the viticulture, and they understand that the two goals of protecting our waterways and farming can be one and the same, especially with a high-quality, valuable crop like wine grapes," said Crafton. "They do a fantastic job of making sure the practices that are beneficial to the fish are also beneficial to the vines, so you really have farmers and scientists and environmentalists all working together to the same goals."
Down the valley and along the Napa River is Yountville's Chandon, which also has found value of the FFF program to be beyond the certification and bright green placard.
"Their guidance has allowed [us] to systematically improve the conditions that impact creeks surrounding our vineyards, as well as identifying situations that pose a risk of potential erosion during rainstorms," said Carlos Danti, Chandon's winegrowing director. "In our experience, the Fish Friendly Farming team takes their environmental responsibilities seriously and believes, like we do, that sparkling wine making and protecting our waterways can be one and the same."
With multiple creeks and Napa River tributaries regularly crossing the Chandon properties, it is important to Danti and his team that they do everything in their power to mitigate any negative impacts to the waterways. And over the last near-decade, they have found that the FFF program is helpful in achieving just that.
"While it's a detailed and sometimes complex process, Chandon feels strongly that acting sustainably and as a thoughtful environmental partner is always worth the effort," said Danti. "We have certified [our] Carneros, Mt. Veeder and Yountville estate vineyards since 2013, and worked with the Fish Friendly Farming team to ensure our winery and viticultural teams are up to date on the latest regulations."
At HALL Wines in St. Helena, the FFF program was able to work with vineyard staff to come up with some long-term solutions to keep any sediment and chemicals out of the waterways. In particular, erosion has been a topic of concern across the HALL properties.
Sarah Lansing, a member of HALL's vineyard crew, has watched the certification process happen firsthand for several of the brand's vineyards, and says each required a lot of information collection and documentation.
