Seeing Green at Silverado Vineyards:
The outlook is sunny in our new solar field

Environmental activism has become all the rage in recent years, but here at Silverado Vineyards we’ve been doing our part to conserve energy and natural resources since the winery first opened in 1980. Whether we were installing drought resistant landscaping, replacing old-fashioned sprinkler heads with drip irrigation or sweeping barrel room floors instead of hosing them down, we’ve always been conscious of pursuing the most environmentally friendly business practices.

Our latest “green” accomplishment is our amazing new solar field which was installed at the base of our hilltop earlier this year. Measuring roughly 10,000 square feet, this field supplements the 15,000 square feet of solar panels on our rooftop, enabling us to generate a fair amount of energy. In mid-July we connected our system to the Pacific Gas & Electric Company grid, and though we don’t expect that we’ll ever be able to provide all of our own energy needs, we are now able to “bank” excess power to use during our high usage months, typically late summer and harvest, reducing our annual energy dependency by almost 25 percent. Ironically, there was a light rain the morning we connected to the utilities grid.

We’ve also been working to refine our methods for recycling water, an increasingly precious commodity throughout Napa Valley and the entire state of California. For instance, when we rinse out wine tanks, the water is directed to special drains so that it can be reused for landscaping and other purposes. And just as homeowners are learning to sweep their driveways rather than hosing them off, we are changing our work practices in order to reduce our use of water by grabbing brooms and buckets instead of hoses when it’s time to remove harvest debris from the cellar floor.

Overseeing all of these efforts has been Mike Morris, our facilities manager for the last 23 years.

“Things have evolved tremendously since I’ve been here,” says Mike, who has undergone extensive training in water usage and treatment in addition to the research he completed before our solar field was installed.

According to Mike, many local wineries first began exploring energy conservation strictly as a way to conserve costs but they now realize that working to preserve the natural environment of the Napa Valley benefits all of us in ways that can’t be quantified in dollars and cents.

Next time you visit Silverado Vineyards, be sure to look for our new solar field. It’s partially visible through the treetops from both the tasting room windows and the sunny terrace outside our tasting room. Our strategically sited rooftop panels are a bit harder to spot – they can only be seen for a brief moment as you’re driving east across the bridge on Yountville Cross Road. One blink and you’ll miss them!