This advertising content was produced in collaboration with our partner, Beringer, Frank Family Vineyards, and Etude.
If there’s one thing wine buyers and consumers can count on, it’s the high-quality wine coming out of Napa and Sonoma. With decades—sometimes even a century—of experience working in these regions, winemaking has evolved into a finely tuned art.
But with so many great California wines to choose from, many wine lovers are now looking for producers that are going the extra mile, particularly when it comes to sustainability. Buyers and consumers are seeking out winemakers who prioritize energy efficiency, land conservation, and giving back to the community.
The brands below offer the best of both worlds: high-quality California wine made using sustainable and environmentally friendly production methods. Whether through cultivating biodiversity, preserving water sources, or using locally sourced and self-generated renewable electricity, these winemakers are putting sustainability first—and capturing the attention of increasingly thoughtful buyers and consumers around the country.
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Beringer
Founded in 1876, and now the longest continuously operating winery in Napa Valley, Beringer has firmly established itself as a benchmark wine producer in the region. Beringer is well known for its legacy of industry leadership; it was the first winery in Napa Valley to give public tours beginning in 1934 and has received many top accolades. The award-winning wines were born from Beringer’s Private Reserve program, which was established in 1977 to produce some of the region’s best Cabernet Sauvignon from top Napa Valley sites. That success was quickly followed by the Private Reserve Chardonnay in the 1980s.
Quality has certainly been at the forefront of Beringer’s mission, but so too has sustainability and innovation. For example, the Beringer brothers built the first gravity-flow winery in Napa Valley and dug the first caves into the valley’s hillsides. Today, rooftop solar panels generate more than 40 percent of the winery’s electricity needs, with future plans to generate over 60 percent of its on-site electricity needs. Together, these standout initiatives are what have put—and keep—Beringer at the forefront of the industry.
Frank Family Vineyards
At Frank Family Vineyards, founded by Rich Frank in 1992, you can find Napa Valley’s third-oldest winery, the iconic Larkmead Stone Building. Established in 1884, this historic winery eventually grew to become Frank Family Vineyards. Building a reputation on world-class Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, Frank Family’s portfolio has evolved to include outstanding renditions of traditional-method sparkling wine, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and more.
As Frank Family’s portfolio expanded, so too did their sustainability goals and initiatives. Frank Family recently flipped the switch to solar with the installment of 800+ solar panels at the winery, enabling them to generate at least 75 percent of their electricity needs. Through a combination of on-site solar and locally sourced renewable energy, Frank Family Vineyards is now powered by 100 percent renewable electricity. In 2018, Frank Family launched its annual “Frank for a Cause” campaign, which supports a range of national charities, from reforestation to animal welfare. Through July 2025, Frank for a Cause will benefit 4ocean in its mission to help end the ocean plastic crisis.
Etude
In 1982, in California’s cool-climate Carneros region, Etude was founded with the aim of producing world-class Pinot Noir. Over the next 18 years, Etude searched high and low for the perfect estate vineyard, which they ultimately found with Grace Benoist Ranch. The ranch is home to 24 distinct blocks, each with its own soil type, rootstock, grape variety, and clonal type, including seven Chardonnay clones, nine heirloom Pinot Noir clones, and eight additional Pinot Noir clones.
But that’s not all: Etude dedicates two-thirds of the ranch to wetland and woodland habitats and wildlife corridors that cross the property. The ranch is also home to a community garden, which is cultivated and tended to by employees, producing thousands of pounds of fresh produce for the Napa Valley Food Bank. With sustainability at its core, Etude has been powered by 100 percent renewable electricity since 2023, which is no easy feat. Further, Etude generates carbon-free electricity from rooftop solar panels that cover approximately 30 percent of the company’s electricity needs—and they are on track to double that this year.
Dispatch
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