Ever since the pioneering settlers traveled to the Oregon Territory and began planting grapes in the 1840s, the wine community maintained a strong ethos to care for the land and the community. Caitlin Shawver, director of marketing for Sokol Blosser Winery in Dayton, Oregon, highlights the unique pioneering spirit in the Willamette Valley that started with the founders of the first wineries, which included Susan Sokol Blosser and Bill Blosser. “Their independent spirit led them to plant grapes here, even when many people told them they were crazy),” Shawver says. “Deep respect for the land and the surrounding environment was a priority then — and it still is now with the second generation at the helm.”
LIVE certified
In 1997, a small group of visionary winemakers from the Willamette Valley founded LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology), a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that offers certification and education to vineyards and wineries in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Currently, 313 vineyards and 28 wineries are LIVE certified including 12,000 vineyard acres and 30,000 farm acres, along with about 7,500 acres of land set aside for biodiversity within the LIVE membership.
As per their website, LIVE’s certification standards are a comprehensive set of rigorously applied, science-based methods that ensure both winegrape farming and production are as environmentally and socially sustainable as possible. These standards meet the rigorous benchmarks set by the International Organization for Biological Control (IOBC). Also, LIVE certification includes both Salmon-Safe and Bee-Friendly Farming certifications, measures implemented to protect fish and pollinator habitats from the impacts of agriculture.
As one of the founders of LIVE, stewardship has been a key principle at Willamette Valley Vineyards in Turner, Oregon, since its inception in 1983. Also, they were the first in the world to utilize cork certified through Preferred by Nature to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards. Other firsts included deploying a UV-C Light robot in their vineyard to prevent powdery mildew and serving as one of the founding signatories of the Willamette Valley Oak Accord, a grassroots effort to protect and restore the remaining oak habitat in the Willamette Valley.
In addition, they partnered with Pacific Gas & Electric to provide wind-powered electricity, invested in four solar energy projects with Advanced Energy Systems, adopted a new lightweight bottle design for nationally distributed wines that “precycles” glass by using less material to produce a bottle, and printed new labels on the nationally distributed wines on FSC certified paper made from 100% recycled paper. This small change is equivalent to 8,380 pounds of wood saved.
Reuse with Revino
Last year Willamette Valley Vineyards partnered with Revino to bottle its 2023 Whole Cluster Pinot Noir — over 17,000 bottles of it, or 1,400 cases — in reusable bottles. These Revino bottles offer an 85% reduction in carbon emissions compared to standard single-use glass bottles and can be washed and reused up to 50 times before being recycled into a new Revino refillable bottle. While many practice recycling bottles regularly, especially in Oregon, the reality is less than 30% of glass bottles are recycled. That’s why refillable glass bottles are even more impactful because they sidestep recycling by reusing bottles.
Revino was built in the heart of Oregon’s Willamette Valley wine region to support and expand on the industry’s sustainability efforts. While many wineries have made great strides in sustainable farming and production, packaging remains a significant source of emissions. Revino fills that gap with a locally operated, returnable, reusable glass bottle system designed specifically for the wine industry. Currently, 60 Oregon wineries have purchased bottles from Revino, and 30 more are committed.
“Revino has a well-conceived, well-researched and well-vetted plan to respond to a strong and growing demand throughout the wine industry for returnable, refillable, locally manufactured wine bottles,” says Pat Dudley, president and general manager of Bethel Heights Vineyard. “This need is one of the most discussed topics at wine industry gatherings at this moment. Revino’s plan makes sense of starting small and local and scaling up, region by region, state by state. People in the wine industry want this and will certainly embrace it as soon as it is functional.”
Janie Brooks Heuck, managing director of Brooks Wine also supports these sustainability efforts. “With Revino, we’re taking another step toward reducing our environmental footprint and giving our customers a simple way to join us in supporting sustainability,” she says. “We’re excited to be one of the first wineries to partner with Revino and see this as an exciting next step in the sustainable wine industry.”
Willamette Valley’s B Corp wineries set the gold standard
The lengthy process to achieve B Corp certification requires an evaluation of social and environmental factors, including customer satisfaction, transparency, environmental footprint, employee well-being, and relationships with local suppliers and community leaders. “B Corp certification doesn’t just prove where companies excel now,” reads the B Corp website, “it also commits companies to their mission for the long term.”
In 2014, Newberg’s A to Z Wineworks became the first U.S.-based B Corp winery. According to the latest files from the Oregon Wine Board dated 2020, the Willamette Valley is home to eight B Corp-certified wineries, more than any other state and probably the world.
Within the Dayton-based Stoller Wine Group, their brands Stoller Family Estate and Chehalem Winery achieved B Corp certification. Also, they became the world’s first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold-certified winery in 2006. Hannah Guth, communications specialist for Stoller Family Estates, observes how this certification goes far beyond environmental stewardship. “By aligning our B Corp principals, we not only create a more sustainable future in the vineyard but also build a thriving workplace and community that truly reflects the core values of Stoller Family Estate.”
Sokol Blosser’s Caitlin Shawver points to the collaborative advantages of becoming a B Corp. “An additional benefit is that as a B Corp, we have a unique opportunity to collaborate with other B Corps outside of our industry.” Following Sokol Blosser Winery receiving B Corp Certification in 2015, B Lab Global honored them as a four-time winner for “Best for The World: Environment in 2022,” as well as awarding them “Best for the World: Changemakers” in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Other Willamette Valley B Corp Certified wineries and vineyards include Brooks Wine (Amity), Et Fille Wines (Newberg), Soter Vineyards (Carlton), and Winderlea Vineyard and Winery (Dundee), with Elk Cove Vineyards (Gaston) awaiting final approval of their B Corp certification.
Growth of Oregon’s Demeter USA Biodynamic vineyards and wineries
Ever since Beaverton’s Cooper Mountain Vineyards achieved Demeter USA Biodynamic certification in 1999, a rising number of Oregon wineries have achieved this certification. While Oregon only produces one percent of the wines made in the United States, this state accounts for 52% of total vineyard acres that received biodynamic certification from Demeter USA. This not-for-profit offers biodynamic certification to farms. In the estimation of Craig Camp, winegrower for Troon Vineyard in Applegate Valley, biodynamics represents the best route to building nature’s natural systems in their soil and vines, which would then be expressed in their wines.
For winemakers like Moe Momtazi, founder of Momtazi Vineyards & Maysara Winery in McMinnville, achieving biodynamic certification represented formal approval of their vineyard and winery practices. This modern-day conservationist and ancient Persian philosopher views wine not as a commercial commodity but as a living spirit that springs from the marriage of the sun and the earth. After leaving his homeland in 1982 following the Iranian Revolution, Momtazi purchased 496 (now 532) acres of abandoned wheat farm. Even though this land had been deemed unsuitable for planting finicky Pinot Noir grapes, he knew by employing his family’s vineyard practices that embodied biodynamic farming principles, he could produce Pinot Noir using holistic means.
In addition to growing Pinot Noir grapes for his estate wines, Momtazi sold grapes to 18 wineries following the 2024 harvest. As evidence of the quality of these biodynamic grapes, Tracy Kendall, who considers him to be one of her mentors, continues to receive accolades for her first vintages from Folly of Man, a winery and estate vineyard she co-created with her husband Aaron Kendall.
As reported in The Grapevine Magazine, along with the environmental benefits of biodynamic farming, Brent Stone, co-CEO and winemaker at Eugene’s King Estate Winery, the largest biodynamic vineyard in Oregon, notices how there’s a segment of the wine-consuming public that seeks out products made using sustainable means, which provides them with an opportunity to offer education about the value and benefits of choosing biodynamic wines. “It’s still rare to find a nationally distributed biodynamic wine brand, so we can meet that need in the market and hopefully be part of the growth in that segment,” he says.
The Human Touch
Other wineries like McMinnville’s Human Cellars embody a commitment to people and the planet sans professional certifications. Bryan Berenguer created Human Cellars after more than 20 years of wandering the earth. After working with underprivileged farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America, he made the move into the wine industry in France and Germany. In 2020 he moved to Oregon with the goal of combining the “vigneron” style of making wine (the grower/winemaker being the same person) he practiced in Europe together with the community development aspect that had been an important core part of his life for decades.
The philosophy of Human Cellars follows the rhythms of nature without the use of chemicals and keeping it pure in the winery without fining, filtering or additions (save for a bit of sulfur); as well as being an active part of the community where they live.
In addition to his duties with Human Cellars, Berenguer serves as the viticulture instructor at the NW Wine Studies Center, where created a course on organic and biodynamic viticulture. Recently the center began offering a Spanish language certificate on vineyard management. In addition, Berenguer is actively involved in AHIVOY, a non-profit that helps empower vineyard education and the Oregon Organic Growers Network, a farmer group focused on technical issues related to organic viticulture.
