Assistant Director of Vineyard Operations, Geoff Gatto, explains St. Supery's sustainable farming practices to guests of the 2009 Wine Bloggers Conference on Saturday, July 25th.
"The quality of our wine starts in our vineyard and that is why we farm sustainably. Being green isn't just a fad, it's a way of life for us," says Tina Cao, PR/Marketing Manager. St. Supery is one of 38 wineries enrolled in Napa Green, an industry-leading sustainability certification program.
Asked why St. Supery chose to host a vineyard visit by bloggers during the 3-day conference, Cao's response echoed the sentiments of the other 85 vintners throughout the valley who also hosted, presented or poured for the bloggers: "We realize that consumers are getting information from their peers. Information isn't one-sided, it's viral and everyone's opinion is valuable to someone."
The day began with keynote addresses at The Culinary Institute of America-Greystone, after which 8 shuttle buses branched out to distribute the 250 bloggers on unique experiences across the valley. Over the course of the day, 25 wineries throughout Napa Valley hosted 20-30 guests each for a series of picnic lunches, vineyard tours, discussion/tasting panels, and dinners. One winery, Quintessa, hosted all 250 bloggers for a Grand Tasting of top wines from 50 Napa Valley wineries.
And what did the bloggers think of the day? Feedback has been mostly positive. Jim Preston of the blog WineQuesters left an enthusiastic yet not uncommon response on our NVV Facebook Fan Page: "NVV did an AMAZING job of hosting us bloggers last Saturday! I'm suffering psychological problems from having to spit and dump so many outstanding Cabs. Fantastic adventure, fantastic wines, fantastic people, and worse yet, fantastically exhausting."
To view more event photos or submit your own, click here.
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