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1 4 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | M a r - A p r 2 016 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m FETZER VINEYARDS PRESENTS AT COP21 2015 A few decades ago, in a whole d i f f e r e n t w o r l d , m a n y p e o p l e regarded the folks at Fetzer Vine- yards as a group of way-out hip- pies, extolling far-fetched ideas like "sustainability" and "environmental responsibility." But things change. These days, Fetzer is a respect- ed industry leader and a superstar in the realm of conscious business. It was one of only five wine compa- nies in the world — and the only one in the United States — to be invited by the United Nations to present at COP21, the Sustainable Innovation Forum on climate change in Paris, at the end of last year. When founder Barney Fetzer started making wine in 1968, he already had an earth-friendly phi- losophy and many of his practices didn't align with "business as usual," says Josh Prigge, direc- tor of regenerative development at Fetzer. "I'm sure some people thought they were a bunch of crazy hippies," he says, but adds they took pride in their reputation as reb- els and just kept doing what they were doing. "Things worked out well. Sustainability is in our DNA," he says. Prigge spoke at the business forum of the COP21 conference and shared some techniques and ideas behind Fetzer's many environ- mental successes, addressing top- ics including zero-waste business practices, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the winery's efforts toward net-positive operations. The panel also included Valentina Lira from Concha y Toro, Jean-Guillaume Prats of Moët Chandon Estates & Wines, Alice Tourbier of Château Smith Haut Lafitte and Robert Eden of Chateau Maris. According to Prigge, the first step a business needs to take to become more environmentally and socially responsible is to measure everything and get a baseline of what's going on in the company. "You pay attention to what gets measured, so begin by measuring everything you want to pay atten- tion to," he says. Fetzer has been measuring its carbon footprint for years and was the first wine company to publicly report greenhouse gas emissions with the Climate Registry in 2005. Since that time, the company has reduced emissions by 50%, with a goal of becoming carbon neutral in 2016 and net positive by 2030. One of the things that helps keep its carbon footprint to a minimum, Prigge says, is that its sustainable farming methods eliminate the need for fossil-fuel-based synthetic With the Wine Group, Constel- lation and larger wholesalers on an acquisition binge, Franzia advises keeping a close eye on the growing power of the unions. "2015 was a banner year for consolidation," he said. "Eventually, we're going to have three elephants in the room, and the circus will be overrun by the mice. Someone will start a non- union shop and get the business." S p e a k i n g t o Tr e a s u r y W i n e Estates' recent purchase of Dia- geo's wine portfolio, Franzia is optimistic about the company. "Despite all of the transitions that it's gone through, from what I've seen in the last two years, they're back and going to get stronger. Buying Diageo was a good move," he said. " G e t s m a r t " w a s h i s p o l i t i - cal call to action regarding subsi- dized labor costs, the politics that accompany it and the inheritance tax that works against family suc- cession. "We don't take politics seriously enough to get what we want. [Politicians] focus on the small stuff at the expense of the big stuff," he said. In a touching tribute to the late vintner Louie Petri, Franzia thanked the Wine Group for letting Bron- co acquire the Petri name and announced the company's inten- tion to reinstate it in use at the winery in honor of his legacy. Petri was instrumental in founding the Allied Grape Growers and, in 1953, his Escalon winery was the largest domestic producer of wine. Josh Prigge, director of regenerative development at Fetzer Vineyards, speaks at COP21, the Sustainable Innovation Forum on climate change in Paris. BY M.V. WOOD