Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/724773
f a l l 2 0 1 6 | 6 5 DRIVING north through Cali- fornia, it's fascinating to see the landscape evolve be- fore your eyes. Dry chaparral transforms into groves of cypress and pines; wildflowers paint the hillside in an artist's palette of colors; egrets stand watch over the marshes as flocks of geese fly overhead. As a native, I tend to forget how lucky I am to live in one of the greatest hotspots for biodiversity in the world. The geology of our state, shaped from a violent clash of tectonic plates millions of years ago, has crafted a diverse landscape of microclimates allowing the flora and fauna to flourish—and the wine-grape growing industry to thrive. This diversity has also made Cali- fornia one of the most desirable places to live. Regrettably, development has destroyed habitats for many native species of plants and animals that call this state home and has contributed to the water crisis we face today. Sustainability isn't just a new catch word or a modern way to market a brand, al- though greenwashing is rampant. California has given us an ultimatum—change or move. For fifth-genera- tion farmers like Brad and Randall Lange, the "twins" of LangeTwins Winery, sustainability is not new. It's an absolute way of life. Like many farmers in Lodi, the LangeTwins family* has a very long agricultural history in the region. In the 1870s, their great grandparents, Johann and Maria Lange, emigrated from Germany and settled into the Lodi valley. They started a family farm where they and their son, Albert Lange, dry-farmed watermelons. At that time, farmland was bountiful and the water table high. Business expanded and they soon purchased the family's first vineyard — they weren't sure how to farm grapes at first so they planted watermelons in between the rows. Brad and Randall's father, Harold Lange, was born in 1920 and like Albert, he worked with his father in the field. In 1947, father and son planted own-rooted Zinfandel vines, called River Ranch Vineyard, which the family has dry-farmed up until two years ago, when the water table reached an all-time low. Since then, the Lange twins have expanded their vineyard plantings to 1,800 acres and more than 6,000 acres owned or managed by their farming business, the Lange Twins Vineyard Management Company. Sustainability, loosely defined as existing in long- term ecological balance, is not something new for the LangeTwins family. For nearly 150 years, their ancestors have passed along knowledge and farming traditions to the next generation. This legacy is both a privilege and a responsibility to future generations, and one that they take very seriously. "Sustainability has been defined in so many ways, either by words or by actions, and sometimes the action is mostly greenwashing," says Randall Lange. "So when I talk about sustainability, I would rather call it generation- al, because generational means exactly that: We're thinking further; we're thinking 100 years out." Generational Farming The LangeTwins family's sixth generation grew up on the ranch and, like their parents, worked sum- mers in the vineyards for harvest. After college, they returned to the farm and helped found the winery in 2006. Kendra Altnow, Brad Lange's daughter, was raised on River Ranch and is now Marketing Manager for LangeTwins Winery. "I'm the "twin presence," says Randall Lange smiling; "I say that because the general managers are the sixth generation. That's who's running these businesses." When I mention to Kendra her uncle's words, she rolls her eyes and laughs. "They're very involved," she assures me. It's interesting to see how the wisdom of the past has joined forces with the innovations of the future, and it's apparent in everything the LangeTwins family does both in the winery and the surrounding vine- yards and landscape. *By agreement with Oregon's Lange Winery, LangeTwins is used in reference to both the brand and the family. Solar panels both in the vineyard and on the roofs of the winery provide 80 percent of all the facility's energy needs. The property produces about 1.6 KW of power per year—equivalent to the annual use of roughly 200 homes.