We Treat Everyday Like Earth Day
Earth Day is an important holiday for the Canandaigua Lake Wine Trail! Sustainable growing and harvesting practices protect the soil, air, water, and natural environment and we’d like to highlight how our member wineries are putting those practices into action.
Heron Hill Winery | Canandaigua, NY
At Heron Hill Winery, they make a conscious effort to practice sustainability year-round to ensure that the wine produced is both safe for the environment and the consumer.
““People have become very conscious of what goes into their bodies and from where food originates. Wine is a food product and needs to be handled in a caring, safe and healthful manner. It is important to Heron Hill by farming sustainability, that we gain consumer trust and allegiance as well as to ensure the future viability of our farms.””
There are many ways that Heron Hill stays green both in the vineyard and inside the winery. Throughout the growing process of their grapes in the vineyard, they use the following sustainable methods:
Letting the grasses grow around the vineyard instead of mowing them and avoiding herbicide use to prevent chemical runoff into the lakes, streams and the ground water table
Only use a fungicide spray that targets specific weeds without harming the entire vineyard
Allow the vine roots to access the subsurface groundwater, reducing the need for any artificial irrigation and water waste
Planting row middles to allow better drainage in the vineyard and increase biodiversity of beneficial insects to control vineyard pests
Annually cutting down vineyard rows and mulching them into the soil to create “green manure” which acts as a natural fertilizer
Inside the winery, they continue their practices by:
Using solar panels to produce electricity to operate the winery
Reuse and wash glassware in the tasting room
Use paper and wood products instead of plastic
Recycle products instead of throwing them out
Heron Hill is proud of the efforts they take to keep the planet healthy. They are also an active participant and a highly rated grower with VineBalance. VineBalance is a joint effort by the wine and juice grape industry, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and the New York Department of Agriculture and Market’s Soil and Water Conservation Committee to promote the use of sustainable growing practices on 33,000 acres of vineyards in New York.
John Ingles
The Heron Hill family has been living sustainably for over 40 years. Owner John Ingle works alongside his family members to grow their own food, make maple syrup and sweet cider, and supplement their food supply by hunting and fishing. All of the extra produce is frozen, canned, or stored in their root cellar. John’s family stresses the importance of sustainability to live by the happy rule:
Happy soil > Happy ecology > Happy vines > Happy grapes > Happy wine > Happy people!
Song Hill Winery | Victor, NY
Song Hill’s winemaker Conor Gallagher believes it is important to understand the ecosystem of his winery in order to produce a quality product.
“You cannot study an organism independent of its ecosystem and you cannot study an ecosystem independent of its organisms,” says Song Hill’s owner and winemaker Conor Gallagher.
The health of the grape vines are dependent on soil quality which must have the nutrients vines need to grow. Yet the soil quality is only healthy if other plants and microorganisms in the soil are thriving as well. So the focus is never just on the vine, it is on the health of the entire ecosystem of the vineyard.
All of the insects, worms, fungi, moss, and other living organisms in the area are factors that contribute to the growth of the vines. That’s why it is so important to monitor what goes into the vineyard, because whatever affects those organisms will affect the vines as well.
Some of Song Hill’s sustainability efforts include:
Not using any fungicides, herbicides, or insecticides of any kind
All vineyard work is done by hand to limit the erosion and intrusion of soil
Using a trellis system to maximize the power of sun and wind
Composting all grape waste
Arbor Hill Grapery & Winery | Naples, NY
Arbor Hill has recently added some sustainable upgrades to its business. On Saturday, March 16, they began the process of powering their on-site Brew & Brats restaurant with 40 solar panels. The solar panels have been installed on the roof of the restaurant and will be used to power Brew & Brats and the winemaking process which takes place in the basement.
Since 40 solar panels will likely be producing more energy than Arbor Hill needs, there is an automatic system that sends the extra power to their neighbors via the Rochester Gas & Electric power grid. Talk about a great way to reuse energy!
Hazlitt Red Cat Cellars | Naples, NY
The Hazlitt family advocates for reducing carbon footprint wherever possible. Vineyard Manager, John Santos, knows the impact that growing vineyards can have on the land, so he strives to reduce that effect and enhance the environment by:
Composting all of the pomace (the pulpy residue left over after the juice is squeezed from the grapes) with a 50% addition of bedded horse manure. The finished compost is used to fertilize the 55 acres of vineyards in Hector.
Low-growing cover crops used to reduce mowing. Any mowing that has to be done is combined with some other, more essential operation, such as hoeing, leaf pulling, or hedging. This not only reduces fuel consumption, pollution, the amount of dust produced, and helps control mite populations.
A 1,500-gallon tank collects rainwater from the warehouse roof used to fill sprayers and wash the harvester.
Hay is rolled out in the vineyards that have been clean-cultivated through the summer. This helps retain moisture, prevent soil erosion, and helps suppress weed growth while adding organic material to the soil.
Additionally, Hazlitt collects the popcorn leftover in the tasting room that visitors don’t eat and combines it with grape skins and seeds from last fall’s harvest to make a nutrient rich compost. Within the tasting room, they also offer recyclable packaging, reusable cups, metal straws, and compostable dishware.
Inspire Moore Winery | Naples, NY
Inspire Moore says sustainability is one of the cornerstones to all of their business practices.
Like Heron Hill, they also work with growers who implement VineBalance practices developed through Cornell Cooperative Extension for the grapes that they purchase. Their green practices extend beyond that by:
Composting all grape pomace which is utilized in the farm garden or vineyard
Using colloidal cleaners in the cellar that are free of phosphates and chlorine
Operating cleaners at lower temperatures, reducing energy consumption and require only a water rinse, no acid neutralizers
Working with countless local businesses to provide economic viability to the region
Using recyclable corks and no capsules
Printing many bottle labels without paper labels
Recycling as much material from the winery and café as possible
Avoiding single use items and do not allow plastic drinking containers
Keeping the Vineyards Green
We are so proud of our member wineries for making efforts year-round to operate their businesses sustainably. It is important to care for the environment so that wine can be made from these vineyards for years to come and generations of visitors can enjoy the plentiful bounty of New York’s most prestigious wine growing region!