About

Environmental Information

Trinchero Family Estates is committed to environmentally responsible practices in every aspect of its winemaking operations. The company constantly strives to improve these programs, not only for the benefit of the environment, but to serve the best interests of our employees, customers, and neighbors in the community. Trinchero Family Estates' environmental consciousness pervades its vineyard practices, its water usage, its selection and disposal of wine packaging materials, and its operation of a winery-wide recycling program in which all employees participate.

Sutter Home constantly strives to serve the best interests of our employees, customers, and neighbors in the community.

In the Vineyard Trinchero Family Estates employs Integrated Pest Management techniques to minimize the use of agricultural pesticides. By planting floral cover crops, in conjunction with oats, barley, and may weed, we attract pests such as aphids, which in turn attract beneficial insect predators such as wasps, ladybugs, lacewings, and pirate bugs. After these beneficial predators have feasted on the aphids, they turn their attention to other vineyard pests, such as leafhoppers and mites. Thus, by encouraging the growth of natural predator populations, we limit pest damage to the vines without recourse to chemical sprays. Allowing cover crops to grow also precludes the use of herbicides. Trinchero Family Estates also has an extensive composting program, which annually recycles into company vineyards 24,000 tons of grape pomace and one thousand tons of diatomaceous earth used for filtration. [click here for more...]

All of our programs reflect the commitment of Trinchero Family Estates to an environmentally conscious winemaking operation.

Most wineries use 5-6 gallons of water to produce a gallon of wine. At Trinchero Family Estates, less than a third of a gallon is used and the wastewater is treated and recycled into our vineyards for irrigation. Annually, Trinchero Family Estates recycles over 50 million gallons of winery wastewater. Trinchero Family Estates also uses a high percentage of recycled materials. For example, wine bottles used are comprised of close to 50% cullet (i.e., broken, recycled glass), and the company recycles all its broken glass to the glass manufacturer. In addition, Trinchero Family Estates maintains an in-house glass-recycling program, in which all employees are encouraged to bring their used bottles from home. All plastic waste materials are also baled and resold. The wraparound cardboard that Trinchero Family Estates uses to house and ship Sutter Home wines are lighter and require less material than the typical carton. They also contain a high percentage (approximately 43%) of recycled fibers. In addition, they contain shorter partitions within the cartons, reducing further the amount of material required. Trinchero Family Estates recycles all corrugated and waste cardboard to its carton manufacturer. The company has constructed a warehousing and bottling facility in southern Napa County in order to reduce the incidence of truck traffic and pollution in the agricultural preserve of the upper Napa Valley.

Winery-wide Recycling Effort Comprehensive recycling programs are in place in all departments of Trinchero Family Estates, including shipping and receiving, tasting rooms, and all administrative offices. All incoming packaging material is recycled and all shipping materials are comprised of recycled materials. In addition, all departments separate and recycle paper goods, plastics, glass, aluminum, and tin; and employees from each department are encouraged to bring in their recyclable goods from home.

All of the programs described above reflect the commitment of Trinchero Family Estates to an environmentally conscious winemaking operation.