At FRESCO, we empower our farmers to manage their vineyards organically, with balance and integrity.

Farming, at its core, requires some destructive influence, but what is taken out can be given back through thoughtful, holistic practices. The farmers we work with go beyond organic, and work within a regenerative farming paradigm. While ‘Organic’ is an important starting point, it’s essentially a strongly-defined list of things we can’t do—no synthetic pesticides, no GMO products, etc. The organic certification lacks direction on practices that are truly transformational. ‘Regenerative’ farming starts with organic practices and goes beyond, with prescriptions for soil health and living wages. There are some efforts to define regenerative, some we agree with, like CCOF’s ‘Regenerative Organic Certification,’ and others more sinister, like the pesticide industry’s attempts to greenwash their extractive and harmful practices. We like the term regenerative, leaning into the Latin root that means “to bring forth again,” because it opens the door to healing strip-sprayed, depleted vineyard land; our goal is to instigate the change that helps a farmer choose to step off the pesticide treadmill.

To define our take regenerative farming, however, we’ll need to provide some context on commercial grape farming:

Beyond mildew, weeds are a major concern for most growers. Eliminating the plants that grow directly under vines is a big chunk of annual farming costs for organic farmers. Picture a vineyard planted in rows: between the two rows, a tractor can drive easily, but it’s hard to get a tractor/mower close enough to the vine’s trunk to efficiently cut weeds. Many organic growers resort to weed-whacking, which is labor intensive and costly, and the two-stroke engines that run them burn dirty, emitting a lot of carbon. To save some coin, conventional growers use herbicide directly under the vine, keeping the earth underneath the vine row bare and sterile.

This is where the most pernicious agro-chemical used in viticulture comes into play. Often referred to by its brand name ‘Roundup,’ glyphosate is a post-emergent herbicide that is ubiquitous in the conventional winegrowing paradigm. It is often used in conjunction with pre-emergent (applied in fall, before green growth) herbicides that get no press but are potentially more damaging. Vineyards treated this way are easily identified by a bare strip that runs the length of the vine row, see the picture. (caution- once you learn to identify the vineyards farmed with herbicide, it may become all you can focus on!)

To the left is an organically managed vineyard, to the right is a strip-sprayed one.

A 2014 study found glyphosate in 80% of Americans; while the health impacts are still coming into focus, it seems an unnecessary risk to take in the production of a luxury product like wine. And, whether or not it’s probably bad for humans, it’s certainly disastrous for environmental health. The soils treated this way are unable to sustain microbiological life (critical for carbon sequestration), requiring the vines to be bottle-fed on a steady diet of fertilizer and water (each of which have their own downstream issues!). The strip-sprayed portions of vineyards also cannot harbor habitat for native flora and fauna, many of which are in steep population decline from habitat loss. As I see it, the use of herbicide is THE line that can be drawn between farmers working positively within their environment and those working against it. My professional life goal is to see herbicide removed from viticultural use, in my neck of the woods and beyond.

Beyond herbicide, there are a host of problematic pesticides in use. These chemicals are regularly recalled when the science catches up, but it’s often years later, after literal tons are sprayed onto crops. The reliance on chemical solutions gets grape farmers stuck on a ‘pesticide treadmill,’ where the vines are weakened and unable to fight off otherwise minor afflictions, requiring more sprays, which beget weaker vines, which require more sprays, and on and on until the vines need to be ripped out and replaced. It’s worth mentioning that re-establishing a vineyard—tearing out vines, burning the wood, deep-ripping the soil, and replanting new vines that need extra care and water—involves huge carbon emissions relative to the rest of the vineyard’s life. So there’s added incentive, from a carbon emissions point of view, to keep vines in the ground for longer. 

At the same time, transitioning away from synthetic pesticides can be problematic and pricey. Grower margins are often very low, and systemic changes are fraught with risk. For a wine brand like FRESCO to help a grower make this transition, we must be willing to pay more for the same grapes, buy them at sufficient volume, and continue to buy these grapes over several years to help it all pencil out. The grapes we buy at FRESCO are all farmed without synthetic pesticides or herbicides. But beyond that, we work with and encourage growers to focus on soil health. This style of farming, we believe, yields healthier grapes, that ferment easily into tastier wine, thus requiring fewer interventions in the winery. This style of farming can sequester carbon and harbor native species of flora and fauna.

Some of the techniques our farmers employ, and their benefits, are listed below:

• No-Till: tillage is the act of cutting and turning the soil to eliminate plants that might otherwise compete with the vines. It’s an age-old practice that works without agrochemicals, but it also releases carbon into the atmosphere as the life in the soil is exposed to oxygen. No till systems leave plant cover on the soil year-round, which can increase organic matter content and reduce soil temperatures. Often the cover crop is crimped, or pinched and laid down flat. The above ground portion of the plant is used as a mat to cover the soil and the roots are left intact. The soil organic matter (microbes, plant roots, and fungi) consists mostly of carbon, which is taken out of the atmosphere by the plant during photosynthesis and stored underground. This carbon would otherwise live in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, which is one of the main drivers of climate change. This means that No-Till farming can, in a small but important way, help to reverse climate change!
• Cover Crops: plants are seeded between the vines, often in mixes. Legumes are used to add nitrogen (which they draw in from the atmosphere and make available to plants). Grasses are used to add organic matter. Sometimes plants with big tap roots are used to mitigate soil compaction. The widespread adoption of this practice gives us hope; twenty years ago cover crops were only used by hippies, but now even conventional growers use them (at least in Sonoma).
• Dry farming: grapes can be grown without irrigation, even in sunny, dry California. If soil is treated appropriately, and the site is right, grapes with incredible flavor concentration and balance are grown in this system. Yields are naturally restricted, which can result in lower pest pressures. This may also yield a lower financial return: less grapes equals less money. We think the increase in quality is worth paying extra for, however.
• Hedgerows: Native perennial plants can be established, generally at the edge of vineyards that wouldn’t be suitable for vines. They can attract natural predators, boost ecosystem diversity and help native flora and fauna. 
• Animal Agriculture: incorporating livestock is an important part of regenerative farming. Often sheep are used; they do double duty of eating down weeds and adding nutrients through manure. Cows, ducks, geese, and chickens can also be used. Generally, the more diversity the better. They add their own set of challenges, ranging from vine damage to added cost, but when well-integrated the positive effects on soil, vine, and grape quality is palpable. Plus they are so cute!
• No spray farming: While all vineyards we work with aren’t sprayed with herbicide or anything synthetic, most farmers are unwilling to take the risk of growing grapes without accounting for powdery mildew. This pest affects virtually all European cultivars, although many hybrid vines are naturally resistant. I have yet to come across any hybrids in Sonoma Valley, until then check out North American Press for another expression of radically regenerative viticulture. Ross Cannard, who farms a primitivo vineyard in Kenwood, takes the risk of farming without sulfur or other sprays. For some inscrutable reason, Benguerel family vineyard is consistently spared from the otherwise omnipresent fungus. We truly don’t know why, but our best guess is that it’s due to the vineyard being uniquely own-rooted as well as dry farmed. These two factors are both de-vigorating properties, and together with the site and variety we enjoy a situation where viticultural sprays are unnecessary most years. It’s a mystery, but one that allows for do-nothing farming in the spirit of Masanobu Fukuoka (author of One Straw Revolution; required reading for the regenetarian!)

We believe there are regenerative properties to winemaking, too. Packaging is where most of a wine’s carbon is generated. Glass bottles are relatively heavy and often come from overseas. To mitigate this factor, we try to buy domestically produced glass bottles, and we use the lightest mold we can find. We use exclusively cork closures, which are ostensibly carbon negative. We also use stainless steel kegs, which are virtually zero-waste, when we can. Beyond corks and bottles, we see harmony between natural winemaking and the regenerative mindset. Natural wine eschews most, if not all additives in the winemaking process. Each additive, from petroleum products to Diammonium Phosphate to packaged yeast and yeast nutrients have their own supply chain issues. These are rarely tracked or talked about, but each additional ingredient increases the carbon output of a wine. Natural winemaking eschews all but the most minor of these additives and so is by definition a greener product. We tend to think that wine made this way is more authentic and tasty as well.

The regenerative mindset is tricky. There’s no one-size-fits-all, silver bullet approach. Depending on the crop, site, goals, financial pressures, and many more factors, the best approach can vary dramatically. At the same time, the work regenerative farmers are doing is incredibly important. They combat climate change while improving the health of humans and the environment. At FRESCO we do our small part to support the growers who are already farming this way and to convince other growers to take their first steps toward a regenerative future.