As we commemorate Earth Month, as more and more people are calling April, we reflect on one of the fundamental reasons we love the wine business. Being focused on agriculture as a business, naturally responsible farming for both the winery staff as well as consumers plays a big role, but there is much substance to the term sustainability as it relates to wineries and vineyards. We were proud to work on the launch of the Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing (CCSW) launch 2 years ago http://www.sustainablewinegrowing.org/swpcertification.php, and most recently to meet the good folks of Sustainability in Practice team http://www.sipcertified.org/our-story/as we dug deep to understand more about the pioneers of Monterey County. One of the fundamental tenets of Charles Communications Associates and most of our clients is an embracing of a sustainable business philosophy which extends to the mindful way one conducts one’s business i.e. choosing vendors, saving water and energy, giving back to community among many other initiatives. In honor of Earth Day which we just celebrated, we’d like to highlight some of the cooler projects our clients have embraced:
Getting creative with recycling on Earth Day- furniture making with used barrels at Wente Vineyards!
- Wente Vineyards, who was one of the first 18 wineries in the CCSW pilot program just hosted an Earth Day event highlighting local sustainable businesses, giving gardentours of their organic garden by Master Gardener Diane Dovholuk, touring the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Course at Wente Vineyards, teaching children about composting and of course enjoying the sustainably farmed wines of Wente Vineyards, Murrieta’s Well and TaMAS Estates.
- Pine Ridge Vineyards has a delicious Chenin Blanc-Viognier blend that the press are raving about http://wine.about.com/b/2012/03/28/wine-of-the-week-pine-ridge-chenin-blanc-viognier-2011-ca-12.htm. In addition to being a great tasting wine, the winery has supported a worth cause for several years, helping American Forests plant up to 5,000 trees a year with its Buy a Bottle, Plant a Tree program http://www.charlescomm.com/bignews/2012/02/pine-ridge-relaunches-buy-a-bottle-plant-a-tree-campaign-with-american-forest/
Also for a little nostalgia, a previous post you may have missed from CCA about the importance of cause-related marketing http://www.charlescomm.com/blog/?p=167. A re-issue of the book Kimberly Charles contributed to years ago, has recently come out highlighting her chapter on the subject. Copies are now available on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Spinning-the-Bottle-Again-ebook/dp/B00784UB3C