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Cline Cellars, A Green Gem

By Natasha Senko

Several weeks ago, in an article about Red Zinfandel, I recommended a wine called Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel.  Truth be told, I was enjoying a glass (or two) of that delicious wine while writing about sustainable and organic wines last week. (Shocker!! Me? Wine? Never.)  As I was looking over the bottle’s label, I stumbled upon a tidbit of interesting information.  In 2005 Cline Cellars installed almost 2,000 solar panels in the roof of their winery that provides 100% of their yearly energy consumption.  A winery with a self-sufficient energy source??  It was s sign from Bacchus himself.  I had to investigate further….

In my research, I found that not only did Cline Cellars produce its own electricity but their farming practices are completely sustainable and what seems to be organic.  They do not use any synthetic pesticides; instead opting for sprays derived from organic sulfur and rock dust to ward of pests as well as relying on healthy soil containing beneficial insects that fight off harmful ones.   They add natural compost created from elements gained from the vines themselves such as grape pumice and vine prunings that help improve the texture of the soil.  They also add what they call “Compost Tea,” a combination of molasses, fish emulsion for increased nitrogen, rock dust and other nutrients, which is added to the vines in the form of drip irrigation as well as sprayed on the leaves.  Crushed oyster shells are added for calcium and volcanic minerals are added to strengthen the soil.  Currently, these minerals are brought in from Arizona but Cline is developing their own “Cinder-cone” grinding operation to reuse volcanic rock that exists on vineyard property.  Talk about self-sufficient!!

If all of that wasn’t enough, in a day and age where machines are taking over, Cline relies on humans, YES HUMANS, for water and weed control with the occasional weed eating sheep thrown in to help out.  Their website says they “employ sheep.”  Wonder what their timecard looks like?

I don’t know about you, but as a wino….er, I mean self-proclaimed wine connoisseur, as well as an advocate of green living, I find the farming procedures at Cline Cellars to be not only admirable but also absolutely fascinating.  And ya know what?  They produce some pretty damn good wine so they must be doing something right!!

Apart from my fave, Cline Ancient Vines Zin, I also recommend, Cline Ancient Vines Mourvèdre.  According to my wine guy, Larry, Cline has the oldest Mourvèdre vines in California and possibly to world.  The original French vines, were eaten by pests or had some sort of disease and had to be burned.   I love all the Cline Ancient Vines wines, but overall, Cline’s has a multitude of wines that bring a lot to the table…hopefully to your table too-many of which have a truly BUDGALICIOUS price point of under $20, so you can’t go wrong.