Donum Estate on Track to Becoming Sonoma County's Second Largest Organic Vineyard Owner

Donum Estate, a high end Pinot Noir producer in the Carneros, is on its way to becoming Sonoma County's second largest organic vineyard owner. Now in its second year of using only organic farming practices, the estate is anticipating organic certification with CCOF in 2022.

The winery's organic vineyards, based mainly in the Carneros, also put it on track to become the largest organic vineyard on the Sonoma side of the Carneros.  

The 190 acre estate in the Carneros is home to 121 acres of planted vines on two vineyards. 

Additionally the winery has a 16 acre vineyard in the Russian River Valley and a newly acquired and newly planted 20 acre vineyard site in Bodega, adjacent to Benziger's de Coelho vineyard near Freestone.

The county's biggest organic vineyard owner, Ridge Vineyards, has vines in the hot inland Dry Creek Valley and Geyserville AVAs. There it grows Zinfandel and Rhone varieties on its 288 acres of organic vines.

In contrast, Donum Estate is in the cool climate Pinot growing regions. 

The country's other large organic producer, Benziger, has 100 acres in various Sonoma AVAs, including Sonoma Mountain, Sonoma Valley, the Russian River Valley and the Sonoma Coast.

Increases Organic Carneros Acreage 

Other local, all organic estate wineries in the Carneros that have organic vineyards in the region include Adastra, Crazy Flower, Grgich Hills Estate, Madonna Estate, Robert Sinskey Vineyards and ZD Wines, all on the Napa side. Larson Family Winery and Nicholson Ranch on the Sonoma side make some wines from certified organic estate vines in the Carneros.

Donum: An Arty Destination

Donum is popular with visitors for its wide range of Pinot Noir wines, made in varying styles, along with its world class collection of 40 outdoor sculptures. Its most famous is Zodiac by Ai Weiwei. 

Mei and Allan Warburg

Owners Allan and Mei Warburg have collected sculptures from leading international artists over years of living in China. (See Christie's article about their collecting here).

Allan Warburg was recently a guest on a YouTube video with Jean-Charles Boisset, talking about his life and collecting art. Here's that interview:

WINEMAKER INTERVIEW: DAN FISHMAN

Why did you and the team at Donum decide to go organic?

Mostly it's a wine quality thing. But there are a lot of good reasons independent of wine quality, as well.

I'm trying to kind of reduce the number of impacts that, that I have as winemaker and trying to use as light a touch as possible.

How are the vineyards doing this year during the conversion?

I've already seen our Carneros soils–which is our biggest vineyard by far–doing better despite the drought. 

Here in the Carneros we have soils with pretty heavy clay content. Outside the vineyard, the soils are cracking. 

We never saw insects or worms in there before. Now there's tons of life and worm castings everywhere. 

The soil is holding water a lot better and holding its structure much better. 

The feeling of being in the vineyard has changed a lot, too. We're just seeing so much more life and energy in the place. We're starting to see a big improvement on that front.

What's it like implementing a composting program?

Doing our own compost is really cool, too. 

We also opened our estate winery in 2019, so now all of our must and vine cuttings goes into building our own compost. We are taking that a step further with some biological additions. 

Are you also using some biodynamic practices?

We also started working with a biodynamic consultant and we can already see in the vineyard how some of the compost teas and the biodynamic horn manure (BD 500) has really brought a lot of life back to those soils. 

How have the workers responded to the conversion project?

I think our vineyard team really does love the fact that they don't have to get into all that protective equipment to do sprays. I think they feel just safer and happier working in a healthier place.

PART 1: Boom Times for Organic and Biodynamic Certification in Napa

Organic and biodynamic wine certification is on the rise in Napa. 

In the past year, several new wineries have come on board, certifying hundreds of acres of vines, and making the region the organic and biodynamic hotspot in the US. It now has the highest number of organic acres in any fine wine region in the country. 

However, many Napa producers still rely on dangerous chemicals. No large, corporate owned wineries are certified organic, a group that includes Beringer, Constellation, Gallo, Treasury Wine Estates and others. (The single exception is Opus One which is jointly owned by the Bordeaux-based Rothschild family and New York-based Constellation Brands.)

BIODYNAMICS: 727 NEW OR IN TRANSITION ACRES

The largest organic vineyard owner, Demeine Estates, is now in the transition to certify all of its 550 acres biodynamic. Many of its brands are already 100 percent organic estate wineries: Stony Hill, Heitz Cellar, and two new brands–Brendel and Ink Grade. All of these vines are already certified organic. 

It also owns Burgess, Haynes Vineyard and Wildwood Vineyard, each of which is in the three year transition to organic and to biodynamic certification. 

The uber green producer Spottswoode (17 acres) became Demeter certified biodynamic in 2020. (It has been certified organic for decades.)

Before Spottswoode joined, there were only 170 biodynamic acres in Napa–primarily at Raymond Vineyards.

ORGANIC: 201 ORGANIC NEWLY CERTIFIED ACRES

After nearly a decade of declaring itself to be organic, but, never being certified, Quintessa (160 acres) finally crossed the threshold in August of 2020. It has also applied for biodynamic certification. The winery also has one vineyard that is in transition to organic for its Faust estate wines.

Tiny Hoopes Vineyard, with 12 acres in Yountville, also became certified organic this spring. It has an additional seven acres on the Oakville AVA that are on the verge of being certified.

Opus One (136 acres), also in Oakville, became certified in April of 2021.

Others are in the certification pipeline, a process which takes three years or organic farming to complete. 

BORDEAUX

While Napa currently has about 10 percent of its vineyards certified organic (not including in transition acreage), Bordeaux now has 11 percent. That's in a country where nationwide the figure is 14 percent. 

The Languedoc, home to lower priced wines, often exported, is 27 percent certified (or in transition) organic. 

About 300 more wineries are expected to become organic in Bordeaux this year, according to local authorities.

See the next post in this three part series.

PART 2: Napa: The Dark Side–"Green Farming" Includes Herbicides and Fungicides

NON-ORGANIC VINEYARDS: HERBICIDE AND FUNGICIDE USE

Most wineries in Napa still use glyphosate or glufosinate ammonium for weed control. 

In 2018, more than 22,000 acres–about half of the vines–were sprayed with glyphosate (the listed active ingredient in Roundup), an herbicide that is still permitted under the county's Napa Green sustainable standard. Another 6,640 were sprayed with glufosinate ammonium.

The total number of acres in vine is roughly 44,000. 

Here's where the glyphosate is used:

All data displayed is from California Dept. of Pesticide Regulation; mapped by California Dept. of Health's Agricultural Pesticide Mapping Tool.

You can generate your own maps at that link, searching for various chemicals including the other form of glyphosate-isopropylamine salt and glufosinate ammonium. The tool also lets you select chemicals by class: carcinogens, developmental and reproductive toxins, endocrine disruptors and more.

For more, visit https://trackingcalifornia.org/pesticides/pesticide-mapping-tool

Fungicides, including neonicotinoids–which are highly toxic to bees, birds and butterflies (including Monarchs)–are more widely used. 

Their use is permitted under Napa Green standards.

See the next post in this series.

PART 3: What Organic Certification Costs

ORGANIC FARMING AND CERTIFICATION COST COMPARISON

Organic vineyards use alternative methods for weed control and protection against fungal diseases and pests. There is much debate about the cost of farming organically and a lot of rumor mill lore about how "expensive" certification is.

Organic Farming Costs

Some experienced producers say it costs the same to farm organically as it does to be conventional or "sustainable." 

Some long term organic producers say it costs 20 percent less to farm organically. 

Others report costs of 10-30 percent more to farm organically. 

Terrain has a lot to do with it and costs vary widely  depending on the site, disease pressure, insect population and other factors.

Grapes as a Cost Center in Wine Production Expenses

Another variable to consider is what percentage of the cost of wine is in the farming and grape costs. Most of the cost of producing a bottle of wine is not in the grapes.

In general, the rule of thumb is that a wine costs 10x what the grape cost. 

So, for a $60 bottle of wine, the grape cost would be around $6. 

If it costs 10 percent more to be organic, the grape price would be $6.60 on a $60 bottle of wine. 

Certification Costs

Many do not realize the costs of certifying grapes is actually quite low and even lower when government rebates are factored in. (See my article from Wines & Vines on the subject). The federal government picks up 1/2 of the costs of certification fees. (CCOF is trying to get the reimbursement back up to 3/4 which is what it was before Trump.)

Take this example: a Napa farmer growing 10 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon yielding 4 tons of wine grapes has grapes valued at $6,000 per ton (for a per-acre yield of $24,000).

For $24,000 worth of grapes (in each acre), the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) certification fee works out to $435 (before government reimbursements kick in). Inspection fees are no more than $400-800, according to the CCOF website but let's use their average quoted price of $550, though it could be lower. The reimbursement can be up to $500 per company.

For four tons, with a conversion rate of 750 bottles per ton, and a wine price of $60, it would cost $435 plus $550 in annual inspection fees or about $1,000 for 3,000 bottles. Then subtract the subsidy and the cost is about $500.

The total value of the wine would be $180,000 ($60 times 3,000 bottles). So the $500 cost in certification fees would be .00005% of the cost of the wine or 3 cents per bottle.

If the farming costs added 60 cents per bottle (assuming a 10 percent increase in organic farming costs) and certification fees added 3 cents per bottle, is that too a high price for consumers to pay? Maybe it's time to ask consumers how they would vote. 

Would they like to pay 3 cents to know the grapes in the bottle were certified organic? 

Wine consumers are clamoring for more transparency in food and wine. This seems like a low price to pay to give consumers piece of mind.

Lodi Growers Meet Mondavi and the Modern Marvel That Is the Monarch Tractor

It was hot in Lodi–104 degrees, to be precise–on Thursday in Victor, just north of Lodi, when the Lodi Winegrape Commission met to see the newfangled gadget Carlo Mondavi and his electric tractor colleagues are selling.

Lodi growers Jon Wetmore and Aaron Shinn of Round Valley Ranches hosted the event which brought more than 70 growers together to witness a truly modern marvel–the first, self-driving, electric tractor.

Douglas Kolker, Head of Growth at the Livermore-based Monarch Tractor company, gave the pitch. "Thank you all for coming. I'll just talk for a couple of minutes.

"Our tractor driver Zach is recording the route and then he'll just press a button and the tractor is going to run the same rows in the same path in the same manner autonomously by itself.

"That will be the highlight of the show, and the magic," he said. "So get ready for that–get excited."

Douglas Kolker, Head of Growth, Monarch Tractor, introduced the demo

"What we have found from all the farm owners that we've been speaking with when we've been doing this, bringing the tractor to farms for almost a year now–we've done dozens and dozens–that there are several reasons why the tractor is of interest."

"There are three main things that we bring to the party," he continued. "One–that it is electric. No diesel. And the cost of diesel, the messiness of it, the fumes, what it does to your crops–so that's eliminated. That's number one.

"Number two is that it's autonomous, driver optional. So your best driver records the route, hops off and the tractor runs it from then on–for as long as you want it to run in terms of months and years. And it will improve upon the route. It's actually better. 

"Anyone ever have a tractor run over a vine? That won't happen. Whatever the tractor driver recorded, every single time the tractor makes a pass on it, the tractor improves on the route. 

"And then the third piece, which you will see when the tractor comes to rest, and you can kick the tires and look at it, is that it has 12 cameras on it, so it provides real time data collection. So you can look for pests, moisture levels, anything and everything that you need to capture will be captured automatically by the cameras. You can look at it and analyze it on your phone and on your apps whenever you want. And the data belongs to you."

An onlooker watching the tractor in action

Just like ET, the tractor will phone home, Kolker said. "Unlike an electric car,  there's no range anxiety. The tractor will always come back to the charging station," he told the crowd.

A $500 deposit would lock in the current price, he added. "A 2 x 4 is $58,000 and the 4 by 4 is $68,000."

Many wineries in other regions have already ordered the tractors, and some–including Scheid Vineyards in Monterey County–have already applied for grants to offset the purchase price through California's Air Board FARMER program. 

"You turn in your old diesel tractor for one of those grants," said Mondavi.

It was his grandfather, Robert Mondavi, who famously grew up in Lodi, when his parents, Cesare and Rosa, moved the family of four from Hibbing, Minnesota to a house here, just 6 miles as the crow flies from Round Valley Ranches.

Cesare (standing) and Rosa (seated) with their children:
Mary,  Helen, Peter and Robert

"This is kind of a return to home for me for my family," Carlo said. "We're no longer farming here in Lodi, but we had been farming here since 1919."

Indeed, Robert Mondavi founded the nearby local powerhouse producer, Woodbridge in Acampo. (The winery is owned today by Constellation Brands.) Mondavi's mass market wines marked the market transition from old school jug wines to the modern varietals. That, of course, was in addition to putting Napa and its wine on the global stage.

The challenges of the 21st century are different from those days.

"For me, the Monarch tractor is the solution to a challenge called the Monarch Challenge, which is an effort to raise awareness" said Carlo. "Since the introduction of chemicals in farming, the population of butterflies and bees–due to climate change, migratory path disruption, and chemicals in farming–the Monarch population of butterflies have gone from 4.4 million individuals in the state of California down to 19,110. They're on the brink of extinction."

Carlo Mondavi (in black hat), Chief Farming Officer, Monarch Tractor, in Lodi

"So I started a challenge called the Monarch Challenge to try to create awareness. Because I'm a farmer. All my friends are farmers. Farmers are the most important people on earth, next to maybe doctors.  

"I realized that we weren't going to be able to solve this problem unless we could bridge the economic divide. There's a massive economic divide between multiple passes and fewer passes. That's just common sense. It's also a carbon footprint divide. 

"So if you can drive a Tesla or some of these autonomous vehicles, why can't you do that with a tractor? And so I partnered with a brilliant team and we formed Monarch Tractor."

"The crazy thing about this is it solves not just the carbon footprint issue that we deal with in farming, but it also solves the economic divide."

That footprint has big bottom line implications, he said.

"We're swapping in–in just one family's operations–about 150 tractors over the next five years. We're going to be saving them over $3 million per year. The carbon footprint savings is about 8,000 metric tons. 

"There's big big savings when you look at this from a financial standpoint, and that's what we need, as families, to continue farming and doing what we love."

Looking back on his own experience growing up as the son of Robert's son Tim Mondavi, Carlo said he was a mechanic's assistant from the age of seven until he was about 16, and he got some sage advice from the mechanic.

"He said, 'Carlo, you need to realize the most dangerous place on this farm is in a tractor seat.'" 

The Monarch solves that safety issue, he said.

"By being able to have your skilled operators get out of the tractor seat, and manage a fleet of tractors–versus being in a dangerous place, which is dirty and dangerous job–you're protecting your farm. You're also increasing your profitability. 

"And so that's one of the reasons why we know that this technology is needed–not just for all the challenges that we face on a planetary basis, but also on an economic basis."

The company says that the first tractors will ship in the fourth quarter of 2021, but most customers will get delivery for orders placed now in 2022 and 2023.

During the Q and A, growers asked about the right to repair, labor laws, charge times, horsepower and a variety of other questions.

Stephanie Bolton, the research and education director of the Lodi Winegrape Commission, 
got a chance to sit in the tractor

One questioned whether the company let farmers have the right to repair. 

"We are 'farmers first,'" said Mondavi. "You have the right to repair. The whole team is committed to 'farmer first.'"

Data is stored in the cloud and the farmer owns the rights to their data, the team said.

The discussion touched on labor laws and cost savings. "With the Monarch, there's no overtime," said one speaker."

"And no ten minute coffee breaks and no lunch breaks," an audience member chimed in.

The battery life depends on the amount of energy needed to do various tasks. "For mowing, the battery lasts about 10 to 12 hours," one speaker said. "Higher draw tasks take more energy so the time is less."

Apps are in development that will identify insect pests or count missing vines, and other tasks, the team said. 

At the end of the session, my phone shut down from excessive heat. But could a Monarch tractor keep going when a regular farmworker driver would faint from the heat? Probably it could.

Congrats to Opus One - Now Certified Organic - And Happy Fourth of July to French-American Unions

April 12, 2021 was the magic date that one of Napa's most prestigious wineries, Opus One, had its 136 acres of estate vineyards certified organic. It's sort of the wine equivalent of putting a ring on it, isn't it?

Founded by Baron Philippe de Rothschild S. A. and Robert Mondavi, the winery is now owned by Rothschild and Constellation Brands. It is Constellation's only organic property.

Bravo - well done. 

So far, Napa and Bordeaux are neck and neck in the competition to see who will have a higher percentage of organic vines. Both are at about 11 percent this year.

Opus One might be the proper wine to drink on 4th of July and on Bastille Day, representing as it does that the U.S. was founded on French Enlightenment ideals that are embodied in the US Constitution. 

Viva La France, Viva Les Etats-Unis d'Amerique. Et viva Opus One.