Fantastic Wines

Harvesting the Sun - Utilizing Solar Power to Produce Fantastic Wines

In December, 2004, Shafer Vineyards made the switch to 100 percent solar power, which we see as our next step in sustainable farming. Going solar is our way of treating the air as well as we treat the land. The generation of electricity is the number one source of air pollution in the US. Most generator plants burn coal and pump millions of tons of greenhouse gasses and pollutants in the air we breathe.

Over the lifetime of Shafer’s system alone (30 years) the greenhouse gasses that won’t be produced on our behalf has the air-purifying effect of planting 17,000 trees.

The good news is that harvesting the sun’s energy has become a big trend here in wine country. Numerous wineries are now helping to reduce the production of greenhouse gasses -- doing their bit to stem global warming.

Other Solar Powered Wineries (most tend to be in the 30 to 50 percent range):

In Napa County

Domaine Carneros

Dutch Henry Winery

Frog's Leap (95 percent)

Green & Red Vineyard

Long Meadow Ranch (100 percent)

Robert Sinskey Winery

Shafer Vineyards (100 percent)

In Mendocino County

Fetzer Vineyards

In Sonoma County

Raymond Burr Vineyards

Rodney Strong Vineyards

St. Francis

In the Sierra Foothills

Sierra Vista

Terre Rouge