Napa Green Executive Director Anna Brittain has announced a change in their sustainability certification. Napa Green’s goal is to phase out all synthetic herbicides, beginning with glyphosate, the controversial ingredient of Roundup manufactured by Monsanto. Herbicides don't just kill the weeds, they also affect the soil structure and all the things that live in the soil -- the microbes, lichens, fungi, and protozoans. This leads to loss of biodiversity, soil compaction, and water retention.
Besides, it's really hard to talk about terroir when you're killing everything that contributes to it. Monoculture does not support complexity. Nutrient deficiencies in soil treated with herbicides can result from the loss of organic matter. That does not happen when you mow or introduce animals like sheep to control the undergrowth.
Aside from the fact that glyphosate is a potential carcinogen and its likely contribution to the global loss of pollinator species, it stays behind in the soil and gets into the vines and wines.
We have never and will never use herbicides in the vineyard. The field has had animals -- herbivores --grazing it for years. It never received any treatment so our terroir is as natural as it gets. And it's going to stay that way.
Regenerative practices are a natural proactive approach to farm health. If the soil and plants are healthy enough they support each other and are able to fight off pests and disease. It’s a paradigm shift. Perhaps it looks less manicured, but it also looks natural. We need to get used to that look. We need to stop thinking about weeds and start calling them the biodiverse support team.
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