Paso Robles Emerges as Global Epicenter of Regenerative Organic Viticulture

Future-Forward Farming Practices Raise New Standards for Environmental Stewardship in a Changing World 

Press Release 

 Mar 31, 2026 PASO ROBLES, Calif.

The adoption of regenerative agriculture around the world over the last five years has been one of the most encouraging developments in sustainability. Within this movement, one wine region is setting the pace for viticulture: the Paso Robles American Viticultural Area (AVA) on California’s Central Coast. Of the few dozen U.S. wine brands with Regenerative Organic Certified® (ROC™) estate vineyards, six are based in Paso Robles. The six certified Paso Robles wineries—Booker Vineyard, Halter Ranch Vineyard, Le Cuvier Winery, The MAHA Estate, Robert Hall Winery, and Tablas Creek Vineyard—are now working collaboratively to expand the reach of regenerative organic viticulture. 

Starting with a media tour in April, their collective aim is to inform the global wine community and inspire other wineries to pursue regenerative organic viticulture. “Paso Robles has always been a place where growers and winemakers work together to push the industry forward,” said Joel Peterson, CEO of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance. 

“The leadership shown by these six Regenerative Organic Certified® wineries reflects that spirit and shows how innovation and stewardship go hand in hand in our region. We’re excited to welcome media this spring to see firsthand how regenerative organic practices are shaping the future of our vineyards.” 

 Turning Back the Clock 

 While there are multiple certifications devoted to regenerative viticulture, Regenerative Organic Certified is the most rigorous, requiring organic certification and setting elite standards for the required pillars of soil health, animal welfare, and farmworker fairness. 

 In the words of the Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA), the governing body of ROC, “Forecasts have predicted that global topsoils will deplete in 60 years at our current rate, while studies have proven that conventional, industrial agriculture contributes up to 25 percent of the emissions driving the climate crisis.” 

 Regenerative organic agriculture aims to reverse these trends by rehabilitating farmland soils and sequestering carbon through practices such as no-till and cover cropping. Corollary tenets of ROC include respecting animal welfare, improving the lives of farmworkers and building healthier communities. 

 “We are proud to see the way the Paso Robles wine region has embraced the Regenerative Organic Certified program,” said Christopher Gergen, CEO of the Regenerative Organic Alliance. “The vintners and winemakers dedicated to maintaining their land and producing their wines under these standards display a commitment to the Regenerative Organic Alliance’s three pillars of soil health, animal welfare, and farmworker fairness. With efforts like the one-block challenge and the growing interest in regenerative organic among the region’s wineries, Paso Robles is emerging as one of the most exciting ROC regions globally.”  

Creating Common Ground 

 It is no surprise that the Paso Robles AVA has emerged as a global epicenter of regenerative organic viticulture. 

The region is home to the world’s first Regenerative Organic Certified estate vineyard, and it is also home to the organizers of the “One Block Challenge,” a globally recognized program inviting and enabling grape growers to test regenerative practices on a single block for a year to learn key practices and outcomes. The intention is to inspire participants to continue and expand these practices throughout their vineyards and earn certification. The One Block Challenge originated in Paso Robles and has expanded globally to include programs in Napa, United Kingdom, South Africa, and New Zealand. 

There are now over 40 growers participating in the One Block Challenge within the Paso Robles AVA. The result is a growing group of Paso Robles leaders who are driving the adoption of sustainable, climate-resilient farming practices in the region. Le Cuvier Winery is the latest local winery to achieve estate vineyard certification, bringing the total number to six. 

 In that spirit, the Paso Robles region’s ROC wineries are banding together to shine a light on regenerative organic viticulture and create pathways for even further adoption across the industry. The tour promises to be the first in a series of trade and consumer activations dedicated to sharing how the Paso Robles AVA is a leader in regenerative organic viticulture.   

 ABOUT PASO ROBLES WINE COUNTRY ALLIANCE The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance is the official trade and marketing organization that represents wineries, growers, and businesses in the Paso Robles American Viticultural Area. Centrally located between San Francisco and Los Angeles on California’s Central Coast, Paso Robles Wine Country encompasses more than 40,000 vineyard acres and 250 wineries. For more, visit pasowine.com or download the free Paso Wine app.

Video: "Definitely harmful" — Scientists Issue Warning on Glyphosate Impacts to Human Health

 

The scientific findings are only growing more alarming as more research is conducted.

Seismic Shifts, Part 1 | Wine Data Guru Danny Brager's Take on Trends, Where Wine's Falling Behind And How It Can Get Its Groove Back Again | + All Organic Brand Avaline Shows Double Digit Growth

 This is part one of a two part series.

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Some countries are fueling wine growth. Some wineries are doing okay. Some producers are actually growing.

Keeping abreast of how to sell wine in a world that’s in a lot of flux is a full time job.

That’s why so many people in the industry flocked to hear wine data guru Danny Brager speak to an audience of leading wine producers at the annual Wine Market Council (WMC) conference held March 25 at COPIA in Napa.

The story represented a tale worlds apart from the usual handwringing over “younger people are drinking less,” replacing it with a data driven narrative of an industry that lost its way by not paying attention to where consumers (of all ages) are going. That is to white wines, lighter reds, single serving sizes, alternative formats, flavor-first wines and wine cocktails (Stella Rosa’s pineapple and chili wine, for example) and fast casual restaurants serving a variety of ethnic cuisines.

As if to highlight these trends, next door at the Oxbow Public Market, a bartender vigorously shook a cocktail shaker at Bar Lucia, in a corner across from the former location of the Oxbow Wine and Cheese merchant (which closed its doors on Dec. 31). Ilustrating Brager’s remarks, on its by the glass wine list, Bar Lucia serves frosés, five rosés, five sparkling wines, seven white wines–and one Napa Cab.

Reflections on “If You Build It, They Will Come”

Brager opened his talk with a slide from the 1989 movie Field of Dreams, and its famous motto, “If you build it, they will come.”

“Field of Dreams [the movie] was back in 1989…but I feel like this is kind of where we have been–in the past, right? We built the industry to make wonderful wine, and still do, and people came and bought it and we saw years and years and years of continual growth.

And the issue now that we’re living with is what happens if they don’t come. They’re not coming as many, and they’re not coming as frequently as they as they did. That’s the world we’re living in now.”

Brager went on to identify where the cart went off the road and where it could get back on track. The picture that emerged was a contrast in both dark and light.

“We’re living in a time when things are expensive,” he said, quoting data that groceries are now 30 percent more expensive than in 2020. And yet, “Somewhere between around 30% of brands seem to be growing.”

One All Organic Brand, Avaline, Showed Spectacular Growth

Brager’s list of the fastest growing wine brands puts the all organic, imports brand Avaline (sales of 33MM in 2023) in the top segment of brands of $10MM brands growing in double digits. (The order in which the names display below is simply alphabetical, Brager said). (More on what’s behind Avaline’s dramatic growth in a future post).

Avaline is the only all organic brand and is growing at double digits. (Used with permission.)

Availine is now available at Target, Sprouts, Whole Foods, Total Wine and many other outlets.

On Trend: The Explosion of Ready to Drink (RTDs), White Wines, Mini Sizes, Alternative Formats

The ready to drink cocktail wave is now up 23 percent since last year, he said, and has more than doubled since 2021, going from $1.5 billion in sales to $4 billion in the last 52 weeks, according to NIQ data. But wine has not played much of a role.

“It always amazes me that 27% of spirits volume now is accounted for by spirit based RTDs–bigger than vodka. It is bigger than whiskey and gin…I think there's lessons there to be learned from what's working in that segment.”

The pandemic brought about a revolutionary new category. Wine has yet to find its voice in it.

And although Barefoot and Josh wines each outsell Gallo’s hard seltzer High Noon, White Claw sales (though declining) dwarf them all.

But XXL wine, wine based RTDs BeatBox and Stella Rosa and spirits based BuzzBallz are outpacing traditional table wine in attracting sales from non-white and 21-34 year olds.

Price is one driver. “The price of a can of a spirit RTD is like $2.50,” he said. “If you have to do all the math, it’s probably $15 or $20 on the equivalent 750 basis,” adding that consumers probably do not go through all that math.

Brager also pays attention to flavor trends, noting that some products are supersizing flavors, while mini-sizing packaging.

“In my opinion, it's flavors driving a lot of that growth,” Brager said. “It's format–smaller containers. It's function, which could be the convenience of like an RTD. It's all mixed for me.”

“It’s also the container, it’s also the marketing. Some have done a really great job of creating communities–concerts, events and so on and so forth…When you look at some of the data on a consumer level, they have certainly shifted table wine, mainstream spirit dollars and spending to these sorts of brands,” he said.

“We need to be creative, innovative and solid, but perhaps there's an opportunity for us to play in that space.”

TO SEE THIS POST WITH THE ESSENTIAL CHARTS INCLUDED GO TO ORGANICWINEUNCORKED.SUBSTACK.COM

In Part Two: restaurant trends, varietal trends, format and packaging size trends…learn what’s winning.

Scientists Call for Urgent Action on Glyphosate, Citing Strong Links to Cancer

US and European regulators should take urgent action to more tightly regulate glyphosate, the world’s most widely used weed killer, in light of strong scientific evidence that the pesticide can cause cancer and other health problems, a group of international scientists said on Friday.

The scientists, who gathered at a “glyphosate symposium” in Seattle March 25 – 26 to examine a range of research conducted over the last decade, determined that evidence showing glyphosate herbicides can harm human health “is now so strong that no additional delays in regulation of glyphosate can be justified.”

The group affirmed prior findings linking exposure to non-Hodgkin lymphoma and warned that harmful health impacts are being found at levels of exposure consistent with current use patterns.

“Agencies should act without further delay to limit their use, or eliminate them if legally required, to protect public health,” the scientists said in their statement.

Participating scientists included experts affiliated with multiple US universities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute, as well as experts from Europe and Canada.

Experts gathered in Seattle in March 2026 to evaluate scientific evidence on glyphosate health impacts.

The full findings of the group, which included specialists in epidemiology, toxicology, cancer and risk assessment, will be detailed in a peer-reviewed paper the group hopes to publish later this year.

Glyphosate is widely used by farmers and landscapers and others, introduced 50 years ago by Monsanto and marketed as a uniquely safe way to kill weeds.

But evidence has grown over the years linking glyphosate to an array of health and environmental health harms.

The work at the Seattle symposium comes a little more than a decade after the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) conducted an extensive review of scientific literature on glyphosate prior to 2015, determining that the chemical was “probably” carcinogenic to humans.

The Seattle review of more recent science affirms and strengthens that classification, the scientists at the symposium said. Many are now convinced that there is no longer room for doubt about the carcinogenicity of glyphosate.

“It’s clear the evidence has changed and become stronger since 2015,” said Christopher Portier, a former US government scientist and an adjunct professor at Emory University, who was a participant in the Seattle symposium and also the 2015 IARC glyphosate review.

Additionally, the scientists said there was evidence from human and/or animal studies that glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides increase the risk of multiple adverse health problems, including diseases of the kidney and liver. Research also shows impacts to reproductive, endocrine, neurological, and other metabolic systems. Children, infants and fetuses are the most susceptible, the scientists said.

The scientists focused on research conducted since 2016, including reviewing data on how and where people are exposed, statistics on the pervasive presence of glyphosate in household dust in certain agricultural areas and the prevalence of glyphosate in urine samples.

The scientists further warned that other pesticides are also not being adequately evaluated and regulated, and approval processes globally should be “fundamentally revised” to protect human health. Preventive measures to reduce human exposures should be implemented without delay while research continues, they said.

Glyphosate is not the only chemical in which regulators are failing to follow and act on scientific evidence of harm, though it is a key example, according to the scientists at the symposium,

“There is a huge contrast, conflict, between the scientific consensus and the regulatory perspective,” said Lianne Sheppard, symposium organizer and professor in public health sciences at the University of Washington. “This [glyphosate] is the starkest example of that.”

The scientists are proposing an overhaul to the regulatory system, requiring scientific data from independent laboratories and organizations free from conflicts of interest, with the costs of that research work being borne by the pesticide industry. Regulatory agencies should base pesticide approval decisions on “unbiased” health effects data, rather than relying heavily on unpublished data submitted by the companies seeking approvals of pesticide products, the scientists said. For pesticide products on the market, regulatory agencies “must closely monitor use, exposure data and harmful outcomes, especially for susceptible and highly exposed groups,” the scientists said.

Ultimately, pesticide use must be reduced overall, the group concluded, and “eliminated to the extent possible.”

“This is imperative for the health of humans, ecosystems and future generations,” the group said in their statement.

Tracey Woodruff, a professor at Stanford University, participated in the symposium.

“It’s hard to get the government to change, particularly because the industry spends a lot of money lobbying Congress to make sure the laws favor their point of view,” said Tracey Woodruff, a professor at Stanford University and former senior scientist for the EPA’s Office of Policy who participated in the symposium.

“People are really mad that they are getting sicker, their families are getting sicker, and they’re being exposed to toxic chemicals. It is universally agreed … that people don’t want to be exposed to toxic chemicals.”

Germany-based Bayer, which bought Monsanto in 2018 and inherited the glyphosate-based Roundup brand and other glyphosate-based herbicides, is currently embroiled in litigation in the United States brought by tens of thousands of people who allege that exposure to the company’s glyphosate herbicides caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.

Bayer maintains that its glyphosate products are safe and do not cause cancer or other health problems, but several research studies challenge that position.

A 2022 study, for example, found that glyphosate can have neurotoxic effects at doses lower than levels considered safe by regulatory agencies. And a 2023 study linked childhood exposure to glyphosate to liver inflammation and metabolic disorders.

Last month, a review of 15 years of published studies confirmed that human exposures to glyphosate herbicides have been associated with numerous adverse health outcomes that not only include cancers, liver and metabolic problems, but also reproductive and endocrine-system effects, and disruption of the microbiome, among others.

Bayer is trying to settle the litigation, and is pursuing an appeal before the US Supreme Court that could limit future lawsuits.

Bayer did not respond to a request for comment.

When asked for comment on the new scientific statement on health harms associated with glyphosate, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it has a clear goal to “protect children, support farmers, and ensure that decisions are driven by science, not politics or special interests.”

The agency is “unequivocally committed to gold standard science in this review and will proceed with any appropriate steps informed by the review’s findings,” the agency said in a statement.

The agency further said: “This year, EPA will undertake a comprehensive, transparent, and rigorous scientific review of glyphosate to evaluate its use and ensure decisions are fully aligned with the best available science as well as human health and environmental protections. That review will include expanded public access to underlying data and science, analysis of independent peer-reviewed research on potential cancer and developmental risks, evaluation of opportunities to reduce exposure, and coordination with USDA, HHS, and states to promote integrated pest management and alternative weed control strategies where feasible. EPA will also work with USDA and HHS to develop a research and evaluation framework for exposure across chemical classes in the food supply, while strengthening monitoring of residues in food and water in coordination with federal partners.”

Republish this TNL article for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

For more on organically grown wines, visit organicwineuncorked.substack.com

A Great Oregon Pinot Noir Sale: Lemelson's 2022 Thea's Now $30 (Usually $40)

On SALE now for a limited time while supplies last.

Thea’s Selection is our house cuvée.

Dig deeper though and discover that Thea’s is so much more!

We start with organically grown Pinot Noir sourced from Lemelson’s estate vineyard sites.

Regular release price: $40 | On sale this month: $30 (won’t last long!)

A softer touch of new oak allows this wine to be enjoyed at a younger stage than our Single Vineyard releases.

Enjoy the distinct characteristics of the Willamette Valley in an easy to drink, dynamic package, ideal for any night of the week.

Year in and year out Thea’s over delivers!

Shop now

Wine Industry Innovation Conference Cites Two Organic/Biodynamic Producers Among Top 10 Innovators

Wine Market Council unleashed a treasure trove of data and promoted wine industry innovation in annual conference held at Copia in Napa on Thursday, featuring some organic and biodynamic innovators.

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At Wednesday’s annual research meeting of the Wine Market Council (WMC), a leading research group for wine producers, WMC President Liz Thach saluted ten wineries who were innovating to increase visitation and revenues.

In a time of shrinking direct to consumer revenues (down 6% last year, according to Wine Business Analytics data), she said wineries have to innovate to gain market share.

Bringing the Community In | Brooks Winery

She praised Willamette Valley’s Brooks Winery in Oregon.

“They’re focusing purely on community engagement and building within the community,” she said.

“They’re one of the very first wineries to offer zero proof tasting alongside their regular wines. They’re the first to launch a reusable bottle program that’s really resonating in Oregon with locals. They are doing really deep DTC analytics, creating a quiz on their website so people can figure out what kind of wine they want.”

The 17,000 case winery has 18.5 acres of organic and biodynamic estate vines which make up about 20 percent of production.

“Another cool thing they’re doing is using their tasting room for community events, inviting the community to come to do lectures, to have discussions, whatever, and, of course, having some wine available,” Thach added.

Lower the Barriers, Be More Inviting | Baldacci Family Vineyards

Thach also called out Napa’s Stag’s Leap District family owned winery, Baldacci Family Vineyards, as an innovator, saying the family decided they wanted to attract newer wine lovers.

The 8,000 case winery has 46 acres of certified organic vineyards.

Said Thach, “They decided to start just refocusing on what they could do to attract the younger generation.”

“They started one of the first actually affordable library programs,” she added.

In a followup phone call, general manager Kellie Duckhorn explained the new library vintages wine program introduced this year.

Typically older vintages are marked up but under the Baldacci program starting this year, they are not.

“Our 2015 Napa Stag’s Leap District Black Label Cab ($125) sells for the same price as our current 2022 of the same wine ($125),” Duckhorn said. The new program encourages sales of library vintages.

Baldacci also now offer wine subscriptions with varying benefits and customizable wine selections. A subscription sounds “a lot less frightening for younger people to sign up for,” said Thach.

“One of the most successful things is their 15 minute concierge, where anybody can just online and get an answer to any question,” Thach added. Consumers can schedule a 15 min. video appt. online with one of their wine educators whose photos and profiles are also listed on the site.

Who calls? Duckhorn said the most common users are people who are new to Napa or second timers. A common question which of the many visitor experiences at Baldacci should they sign up for.

Other Trends

Other trends in the top 10 innovators list included:

• Lower calorie wines

• AI used to create new wine in half the time (Treasury Estates)

• Spritzes with real fruit juice and monk fruit sweetener (Saint Spritz) in cans

• Rosé, rosé, rosé

• A dog friendly, tasting room in a rural area with an outdoor patio that’s open in the evenings with campfires for guests to gather around and enjoy wines

In closing, Thach said academic experts analyzing economic data from all over the world looked at the future of wine back in 2023, using data from “every single country, on wine sales and consumer sentiment.” She said their work helped to predict the structural issues the wine industry is now facing, illustrating her point with this slide.

1. Traditional wine…”always there. There’s always a place for the small family vineyard connected to the land, but we see this whole new world of wine.”

2. Light, refreshing wines “that are more wellness focused, easy drinking, including soft reds with light tannins, chillable reds, and wines that are lower in calories–just refreshing.”

3. “Soft” Drinks (with Wine). “This is where we see wine cocktails and everything else growing up.”

“So this is an interesting study they did,” she continued, “and they literally have this quote at the end:”

‘The global wine industry is at a pivotal transition point, requiring a strategic response to evolving consumer preferences to maintain its market share.’

“They wrote this in 2023 literally not knowing how fast this would happen. The rate of change now is just incredible, and so the future warning is already happening right now.”

More coverage of the Innovation conference highlights to come in upcoming posts.

Just How Smart Are Plants? Smarter Than We Used to Think, Says Regen Pioneer Jordan Lonborg at Central Coast WiVi Conference

On the frontier of the regenerative movement: organic and regenerative leader Lonborg shared insights on an expanding, ecofriendly movement gaining a toehold in Part 1 of our WiVi regen panel coverage

What can growers do to be better farmers, preserve vineyard longevity, maintain yields amidst heat and drought challenges and apply new techniques to help them gain an edge?

A panel of impressive experts shared their experience and knowledge about these vital topics at last week’s WiVi conference in Paso Robles.

RVF Cites UN’s 2014 Warning: Only 60 Harvests Left

“We need to relearn how we farm,” said British born Stephen Cronk, co-founder of the London based Regenerative Viticulture Foundation (RVF), a global movement created to put soil health first in vineyards.

Cronk moderated the panel Beyond Sustainability: How Regenerative Farming Drives Quality and Growth Case Study held March 12.

The RVF approach is a lower risk path than organic, encouraging a starter kit, toe-in-the-water approach it calls the 1 Block Challenge to get growers to recognize the inherent water saving and heat resilience building benefits of trading compost for fertilizer, reducing or eliminating tillage and using diverse cover crops as forms of biological control.

RVF describes regenerative as: (see Substack post)

Other flavors of regenerative–ROC–require organic certification in combination with regenerative practices.

Cronk reminded the audience that in 2014, the United Nations warned that farmers have only 60 harvests of soil fertility left.

Sustainable Versus Regenerative: Central Coast’s Regenerative Leader Jordan Lonborg Weighs In on Soil Health Frontiers

Jordan Lonborg, regenerative consultant at Coastal Vineyard Care, knows a thing or two about regenerative, biodynamic and organic viticulture, as the former vineyard manager at Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) poster child Tablas Creek, which in 2020, became the first vineyard to be certified both organic and regenerative by the Regenerative Organic Alliance (which oversees the ROC certification program).

The roots of the regenerative organic movement have significant overlap with the organic and biodynamic movements that preceded it. The non-organic regenerative movement is a newer development aimed at galvanizing more growers to improve soil health and adopt better practices.

In the Central Coast, where “sustainable” viticulture far outnumbers regenerative or organic, Lonborg diplomatically compared two different systems.

Sustainability “forced farmers to think about farming in a more thoughtful way, thinking about the process itself, reducing inputs, trying to use softer chemistry when needed, and even a social aspect…” he said. “There’s a lot of crossovers between what sustainable is and what regenerative is. Whether you’re talking about cover cropping or compost additions or biodiversity, these are all pieces of both practices and philosophies.”

Lonborg: A Checklist (Sustainability) Versus a Systems (Regenerative) Approach

He explained there are distinct differences between the sustainability mindset and the regenerative one.

Sustainability programs. widely adopted by large scale producers, and therefore popular among Central Coast growers and corporate wineries, do not meet the standards and goals of the emerging regenerative movement, which is raising the bar for soil health. But the regenerative approach offers all growers the opportunity to benefit from improving soil health, he said.

“Sustainable is a checklist,” Lonborg said. “It does not necessarily take into account whether or not you’re putting down the right compost. You don’t know whether or not that cover crop you’re using is beneficial for your soil, or if it’s actually using some of the carbon or the nutrients that you had stored up for your grapevines.”

“Regenerative is is a systems based approach where life is the most important thing, promoting life and growing life through continuous improvement.”

The system approach never ends, he said, and requires a lot of ongoing data collection.

“You’re never ‘done’ as a regenerative farmer. You don’t check any box. You have to keep improving. You have to keep measuring your soil, you measure your carbon, you measure your organic matter. Year after year after year, and a lot of the time you’ll figure out that maybe some of these practices that you thought you had the best intentions of performing on your property might actually be harming your soil.”

Sheep grazing, for instance, is one of those, he said, characterizing the use of sheep grazing in vineyards as “a trendy thing.”

“If done poorly and if done incorrectly, without the context of actually building biology in your soil, you can burn carbon, you can create compaction,” he said.

Look to the Biology, Not Just the Chemistry

The intellectual roots of modern chemical viticulture come from Justice von Liebig, who in the 1840s came out with the law of minimums, Lonborg told the audience. “This is the concept of NPK, right? That’s all you cared about. As a farmer, what you take out of the field you have to put back in.”

“What he didn’t take into account was the role that biology plays in this system.”

The Advent of Rhizophagy: Studying Symbiosis and Its Benefits

Lonborg lauded recent advances in plant biology championed by John Kempf, a global leader in regen ag.

“What we’re finding out, and I think as recently as maybe 2019 or 2020, a process called rhizophagy…And this process shows us and tells us that plants are intelligent. They speak a language. They communicate with the bacteria and the fungi in the soil. If you preserve that relationship, the symbiotic relationship, you are going to create a truly healthy plant, which in turn will fight pests, fight virus, fight disease.”

He criticized the western approach of “see the bug, kill the bug. We’re not asking ourselves, why is the bug there in the first place?”

“We’re able to now measure a lot of these data points. We’re watching bacteria be consumed by plants that bacteria has absorbed certain minerals, certain nutrients, and the plant is telling that bacteria where to go within the plant and where it’s deficient. That bacteria then moves back out of the plant and starts mining nutrients again. So this plant is communicating with the biology in the soil, the reward system we talk about photosynthesis, right?”

A Different Lens: Be The Puzzle Solving Participant, Not the Puppeteer

Lonborg said the process of improving photosynthesis leads to a virtuous cycle.

“The better the photosynthesis, the more carbon it releases; the more carbon it releases, the healthier the biology,” he said. “What we’re what we’re seeing across crops of all types right now is that we…need to think about fertilization and fertility through a different lens. We’re not recognizing that how intelligent this natural design is, and if we step back and say, ‘Hey, maybe we can just be a piece of this puzzle, rather than the puppeteer, we can create truly healthy crops and truly healthy vines.’”

Using the mealy bug infestation as a data point, Lonborg pointed to synchronicities that may suggest causal relationships–and solutions.

“I think it’s a very interesting coincidence that when we started using systemic fungicides and systemic herbicides, not long thereafter, we started seeing explosions of red blotch. We started seeing explosions of mealy bug. We started seeing explosions of leaf hoppers. I think they are synonymous. I think there is a relation here.”

“And I think that there is through regenerative practices and regenerative inputs that we may be able to reverse or withhold or withstand some of the pressures that we all deal with as farmers.”

Stay tuned for Part 2 which features more coverage from regenerative leaders speaking on the WiVi conference panel.

International Mother's Day (March 8) and Month: Celebrating Public Courage for Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez's Other Sexual Abuse Victims

The farmworker movement continues, despite the shocking sexual abuse revelations (with minors as well as adult women) made public today in the New York Times.

FOR THE ILLUSTRATED VERSION OF THIS POST, visit https://organicwineuncorked.substack.com/p/international-mothers-day-march-8

It is hard for the world to process the shocking news that Cesar Chavez abused and raped underage girls as well as adult women, including his fellow farmworker organizer Delores Huerta, who is about to turn 96 in June and only now breaking her silence.

You can read the full story in the New York Times (gift article link here). (see https://organicwineuncorked.substack.com/p/international-mothers-day-march-8)

This wasn’t the first time such facts surfaced. For anyone who read or listened to Miriam Pawel’s critically acclaimed biography, The Crusades of Cesar Chavez, there were hints of sexual misconduct (and other misconduct). But none were as definitive as that testified to today by the two women who were under age when Chavez raped them.

In honor of International Women’s Day and these historic revelations, several artists posted loving portraits of Huerta, which I am sharing here. See more from the talented artists on their instagram feeds.

@artbyannaalvarado

And another here:

@thedesigningchica

These images are so heartfelt and uplifting. One can only hope overdue changes heal all involved. In keeping with Giselle Pelicot’s revelations and trial, and the Epstein victims crusades to open the files, abuse is coming out of the shadows and into the light.

Renamings to Come?

Fresno State decided to cover up the monument of Chavez

As for the streets named for Chavez and the national monument created in his name at the former United Farm Workers (UFW) headquarters in 2012, it will be interesting to see how advocates wish to revise and refine historical storytelling.

Here’s an Instagram post (fictitious) hypothesizing changes, since it would be simple to insert Huerta’s name for Chavez’s.

Fresno State took this approach – covering the statue on campus.

The National Monument

I visited the national monument in 2014. It was a long drive from the Bay Area and I was on my way east to New Mexico. I listened to an audiobook version (no longer available - I have no idea why because it was quite good) on the journey to Kern County on the way and was impressed with the book which revealed so much of Chavez’s dark side and many political compromises from his early days and on into later stages of the movement. Still I’d drunk the koolaid.

At the monument I bought a commemorative water bottle with his name on it. Who knew how bad it would get more than a decade later?

I wanted to recommend that audiobook to you but I guess I can’t, but I CAN recommend the book itself.

Here’s the publishers’ description.

Author Miriam Pawel

The Crusades of Cesar Chavez: A Biography

National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
Winner of the California Book Award

A searching portrait of an iconic figure long shrouded in myth by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of an acclaimed history of Chavez’s movement.

Cesar Chavez founded a labor union, launched a movement, and inspired a generation. He rose from migrant worker to national icon, becoming one of the great charismatic leaders of the 20th century. Two decades after his death, Chavez remains the most significant Latino leader in US history. Yet his life story has been told only in hagiography-until now. 

In the first comprehensive biography of Chavez, Miriam Pawel offers a searching yet empathetic portrayal. Chavez emerges here as a visionary figure with tragic flaws; a brilliant strategist who sometimes stumbled; and a canny, streetwise organizer whose pragmatism was often at odds with his elusive, soaring dreams. He was an experimental thinker with eclectic passions-an avid, self-educated historian and a disciple of Gandhian non-violent protest. Drawing on thousands of documents and scores of interviews, this superbly written life deepens our understanding of one of Chavez’s most salient qualities: his profound humanity. 

Pawel traces Chavez’s remarkable career as he conceived strategies that empowered the poor and vanquished California’s powerful agriculture industry, and his later shift from inspirational leadership to a cult of personality, with tragic consequences for the union he had built. The Crusades of Cesar Chavez reveals how this most unlikely American hero ignited one of the great social movements of our time.

I’d be curious to hear what Pawel’s reaction is to the current revelations.

For now, we can settle for an interview with her from the initial publication of the book. Early on, he sacrificed truth for myth making, as she documented in great detail. Like so many others, he was complicated.

Miriam Pawel "The Crusades of Cesar Chavez"

Watch on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWrMrZzw0Rk

Porter Creek Vineyards | A Great Sale - 30-35% Percent Off During Barrel Tasting Period | 2024 Vintages

From My Email lnbox: Super good deals from one of my favorite wineries. 

Barrel Tasting is a time when you can purchase wines in advance for a 30-35% discount...before they are released.

The official event was March 6-8, but the discounts are extended today through the end of day on March 31st, 2026.

Since many can't make it in-person to Barrel Tasting, Porter Creek is making it easy to order your favorite wines at these significant discounts, either by responding to this email, or by calling us. The offer stands now through entire month of March, or for how long supplies last, as we have a certain volume for each wine that we can do at these prices.

The wines/prices offered for Barrel Tasting 2026 are:

2024 Russian River Chardonnay

• 1/2 case for $200, Full case for $350

2024 Fiona Hill Pinot Noir

• 1/2 case for $285, Full case for $500

2024 Winegrower's Reserve Pinot Noir

• 1/2 case for $340, Full case for $600

2024 Hillside Pinot Noir - Old Vine

• 1/2 case for $400, Full case for $700

2024 Carignane - Old Vine

• 1/2 case for $180, Full case for $280

2024 Syrah - Estate

• 1/2 case for $210, Full case for $380

If you would like to place an order, or if you have any questions, please drop a note back or give us a call. The above whites are

released about a year from now, and the reds 12-16 months from now.

If you have purchased barrel samples from us in previous years, please drop a note back or call to check on release dates

so we can arrange for pick-up or shipping.

Thank you, always, for your support.

Cheers,

Jonathan & Alex

Porter Creek Vineyards

(707) 433-6321

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Here is what I wrote about Porter Creek this year in the brand new Slow Wine 2026 Guide, available online for purchase. 

 

"Beloved winery with die hard fans, it exemplifies best practices in farming and winemaking and the first class wines that comes from them.

LIFE - A classic, it's as close to Burgundy as the Russian River Valley gets–family led, farmed organically and biodynamically, with transparent winemaking. Pioneering founder George Davis purchased the land in 1978. Son Alex became a true vigneron (schooled by Georges Roumier), pruning the vines for 50+ years. His daughter Fiona, a new Cal Poly grad, has just spent time in Burgundy.

VINEYARD - The hillside estate contains some of the oldest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines in the Russian River (dating back to 1973 and 1981 respectively) and they are still producing. New estateplantings are high density. The vines were first certified organic and biodynamic in 2003. Newly planted, Viognier began producing in 2024. They also use an ultra low soil compacting, rubber track tractor, which is particularly valuable during wet springs.

WINES - Old World style learned from Burgundian masters. Davis uses classic techniques. New oak use is around 30%.

Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Winegrowers Reserve 2022 (Red 150 cases; 78 $;) The richest estate Pinot, this is a special selection from within the Fiona Hill Vineyard planted to Swan and Mt. Eden clones. Red and dark fruits predominate. Well integrated and beautifully balanced.

Russian River Valley Hillside Vineyard Old Vines Pinot Noir 2021 (Red 281 cases; 92 $;) Among the oldest Pinot Noir vineyards in the Russian River Valley, this was planted in 1973 with the Martini (#13) clone, the only one available at the time. Dark fruited with spices and silky tannins.

Russian River Valley Fiona Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 (Red 475 cases; 65 $;) The flagship Pinot Noir (Wadenswil clone planted in 1997) grows on steep hillsides, digging its roots into hard clay topsoil underlain by fractured bedrock. In the mouth, soft tannins frame notes of cherry, wild berry and spice.

Half Price Sale! Horse and Plow Rosé - $12.50

Get it while it lasts.

https://horseandplow.com/product/2024-rose-mendocino-county/