Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/724773
6 6 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t In the winery, water is used mainly for sanitation. They installed a wastewater system using largely a gravity feed to move water to the percolation pond, which fil- ters by "digesting" it through a series of plant layers. This water is then used in the vineyard for irrigation. Ninety-nine percent of their vines are drip-irrigated, which saves water and allows them to be very precise. "Those vines are very efficient, and we make sure they are," says Brad Lange. "Once we get through the initial growth stage, we get to spoon-feed the vines." This allows them to control for quality. A cover crop, made up of mainly native grasses, planted every other row, protects the ground from erosion during winter rains and allows for greater penetration rather than runoff. In the spring, the cover crop helps minimize dust from tractors and allows for better support of machinery in the vineyard. Another advantage to the cover crop is quality. The cover crop competes with the grapes for water. The faster the plants deplete the rain, the smaller the canopy and the earlier they'll be able to start drip irrigation and "spoon feed" the vines. "This way, we get the canopy size that we want and we can control that to get the smallest berry," says Brad Lange. "When we pick, we'll get a much higher quality of fruit extraction and color extraction in our wine grapes." Therefore, rows with a cover crop intact will deplete the resources faster and give them a leg up on quality. Then the question is, why wouldn't you plant every row? "We used to do no-till straight across, and we do some of that today. But generally, we will go every other row with cover and the other row we'll clean till, and there's a very simple reason for that," says Brad Lange. Simply put, it's economical. The cover crop will ultimately have an impact on yield. It's finding that happy balance between high-quality grapes and reasonable yields that will allow the LangeTwins family to produce high-quality wines at affordable prices for the long-term. LangeTwins Winery At first glance, the winery appears massive in size, which made me wonder, how could this possibly be sustainable? "You can be big and still be environmentally responsible," says Randall Lange. They built a winery that would be sustainable both economically and environmentally. Solar panels on the roofs of the build- ings provide 80% of all their energy needs, producing about 1.6 KW of power per year—equivalent to the annual use of roughly 200 homes. The winery's unique design allows trucks to drive up bridge-ramps to deposit the grapes directly into the crusher/destemmer, allowing gravity to do the work instead of pumps. Economic sustainability is also an important part of their business model. "One of the legs of sustainability is that we need to be economically viable to be able to continue to sustainably farm," says Brad Lange. For that reason, the family produces many different brands at various price points for diverse consumer markets, as well as providing custom crush services for wineries without facilities of their own. Of these brands, the LangeTwins label is made up of their premium wines and yet, in Lodi fashion, is positioned at very reasonable price points com- pared to other wines of the same high caliber. Ultimately, Brad, Randall and the sixth generation of the LangeTwins family grew up on this land. This was their playground. To them, protecting the envi- ronment where they live and work is essential to future generations. "We're very serious about those that live right next to us," says Brad Lange, referring not just to his fellow farmers and neighbors but also the critters nearby. The LangeTwins family doesn't view sustainability as something new or green. They understand that it's "just the right thing to do." The Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing is the first sustainable cer- tification program in California. The LangeTwins family was a key player in helping to shape the framework for this program, which includes two major components: 1. the adoption of 101 sustainability practices referred to as "standards," which growers like the LangeTwins family helped develop; 2. the Pesticide Environmental Assessment System (PEAS), which is an element unique to Lodi Rules. PEAS is a system used to evaluate the environmental and human impact of all pesticides applied in a vineyard. Pesticide use among Lodi Rules certified growers must fall below a specified PEAS level. This percolation pond is home to many native birds, plants and animals. The pond is made up of only rainwater accumulated from the surrounding area, including the runoff from winery processing. This is a natural filtration system with aerators at the bottom of the 25-foot pond to keep the water from being stagnant and creating dead zones with algae. ■cr