In 2007 Cooper Mountain Vineyards began assessing Green House Gas Emissions as it related to their winery operations. From vine to bottle, each practice was examined in regards to GHG emissions. Founder, Robert J. Gross says of the project, “30 years ago in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, I planted pinot noir. I want to leave the land I have farmed to the next generations unharmed.”
Examples of winery mitigation to reduce GHG outputs are:
- Purchasing renewable energy
- Sourcing biofuel made recycled restaurant oil for tractor usage from SeQuential Biofuels
- Internal energy conservation techniques
- Incorporating sheep to graze vineyards and ‘mow’ instead of tractor usage
- Composting 150 tons of vegetal and animal waste annually
- Biodynamic® and organic farming
- Purchasing light, recycled, locally made glass
Cooper Mountain was able to reduce its GHG emission to 89 tons and went through a third party verification system to validate these claims.
The supporting documentation can be found online.
To neutralize the 89 tons of GHG emissions Cooper Mountain purchased offsets from local methane digester projects in OR, WA and ID.
Click here for more information on this program.
Click here for more on the Cooper Mountain Wines EBC carries.