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3 0 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t "It's in Our DNA" By 1992, when the Fetzer family was ready to sell their winery, they had grown the busi- ness from 180,000 cases in 1981—the year of Barney's death—to an annual production level of more than 2.1 million cases. At the time, the family was just launching their fully organic sub-label, Bonterra, with much of the sourcing for the project coming from 1,200 acres of cer- tified-organic grapes farmed by the late Robert Fetzer, another of Barney and Kathleen's sons. At the time, it was the largest planting of its kind in the U.S. According to Director of Grower Relations Ben Byczynski, while the Bonterra brand today remains focused on organic practices, the flag- ship Fetzer brand "is still a much bigger piece of the puzzle, and for that [the company has] been pushing even further toward the fully sus- tainable model." Sustainability is such a prior- ity for the company that it employs a full-time Regenerative Development Manager, Elizabeth Drake, to manage all matters of social and en- vironmental impact, including grape-growing, processing, bottling, and packaging. How seriously does Fetzer Vineyards take sustainability? In 2014, it was awarded a Zero Waste certification by U.S. Zero Waste Business Council (today known as the TRUE Zero Waste Certification from Green Business Certification Inc.), and a certified CarbonNeutral® designa- tion followed two years later. In 2015, Fetzer became the largest winery in the world to be certified as a B Corporation (a label applied to companies meeting the highest standards of social and environmental performance) by the nonprofit organization B Lab, in addition to being the first recipient of the California Green Medal Leader Award from the Califor- nia Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance and the Wine Institute. Just last year, on the eve of its milestone birthday, Fetzer also received an En- vironmental Leader Project of the Year Award for its use of the BioFiltro BIDA® wastewa- ter filtration system, which uses worms and microbes to naturally transform wastewater streams into reusable byproducts. "Sustainability sets Fetzer apart," Drake says. "It's in our DNA, it drives our business model, and it is exactly what Barney Fetzer had in mind when he founded the company 50 years ago. It has evolved to a point where we came to realize that it is important to not just certify our own vineyards and winery, but also all the grapes—which now come from regions all over California—going into our wines. We have a goal to purchase at least 90 percent of our grapes from certified-sustainable or -or- ganic growers by 2020." A Shared Philosophy Fetzer Vineyards points to one particular grower in the Lodi AVA, Bokisch Ranches, as a poster child for its all-out commitment to sustainability. Owned by Markus Bokisch, the farm comprises roughly 2,500 acres, all of which are third-party certified for Sustainable Winegrowing in accordance with LODI RULES requirements (a large percentage is also certi- fied organic by California Certified Organic Farmers). "As our California-appellation wines moved us further away from our original North Coast identity, we began to source from wine regions throughout the state," Byczynski says. "Among our key growers, Markus Bokisch happens to be one of our pillars—someone we want to establish a long-term relationship with—be- cause Markus' commitment to sustainability aligns perfectly with our own philosophy and he farms at a very high level. As a grower who is also a winemaker and happens to own his own winery [Bokisch Vineyards], Markus knows how to capture quality in a bottle through what is done in the vineyard." From the onset of his relationship with Fetzer Vineyards in 2005, Bokisch says he was drawn to the company's focus on sustainabil- ity, which he thought could "help take Lodi to another level" in the eyes of the winemaking world. "When Fetzer was purchased by Viña Concha y Toro in 2011, I was very pleased to see the winery take an even stronger, proac- tive approach to sustainability and organics," he adds. "Fetzer Vineyards' CEO is Giancarlo Bianchetti, a Chilean of Italian background and also a great guy and consummate manager— very nimble with sales and marketing and very good at building teams and teamwork. They clearly understood what the American market is looking for." All told, Bokisch Ranches farms 234 acres in five vineyards spread across three AVAs exclusively for Fetzer Vineyards. "The advan- tage of Lodi is that it is something of a 'sweet- spot' winegrowing region," Byczynski says. "It has the right climate and soils to produce high-quality wine and a lot of diversity in its topographies. Although most of our grapes now come from regions like Lodi, we still strongly identify with Mendocino County. The winery is based in Mendocino, we employ people in Mendocino, and our philosophy of sustain- ability is ingrained in our Mendocino heritage. What defined Fetzer Vineyards 50 years ago still defines what we are today." PHOTO: RANDY CAPAROSO Bokisch Ranches owner Markus Bokisch at Liberty Oaks Vineyard in Lodi, CA. ■cr

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