Spottswoode estate in St. Helena has received $1.2 million in donations for environmental groups | News

Spottswoode Estate Winery, St. Helena, announced last week it had raised over $1,244,000 through charitable donations to a variety of environmental groups through its partnership in 1% for Planet.

Spottswoode joined 1% for Planet in 2007 and has donated at least 1% of its gross revenue to environmental causes every year since. Spottswoode has contributed more than $350,000 to Napa County’s Land Trust, $84,000 to the Center for Biological Diversity, and more that $50,000 to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Spottswoode has also contributed more than $20,000 each to organizations like 350.orgAmerican Rivers. Bay Area Ridge Trail Council. Greenpeace. National Forest Foundation. Save the Bay. Sierra Club.

Spottswoodes 15 year partnership with 1% For the Planet is a key part of the winery’s commitment to combating climate change and advocating the environment for second-generation sisters Beth Novak and Lindy Novak.

Beth Novak Miliken stated that being good stewards of the land, people and planet is a core part of who you are since you started organically farming in 1985. Helping worthy groups to address climate change and make our land accessible to more people is a way to help drive the conversation forward. It also makes it easier to raise awareness about the importance and fragility Mother Nature and open space.

The results of our relationship to 1% for Planet are also a reminder of how you can make a lasting impact over time if you commit to making positive changes year after year,”Lindy Novak said.

Spottswoode’s 42-acre estate vineyard holds organic, biodynamic, and Napa Green Land certifications, and in 2019 it became the first Napa Valley winery to become a Certified B Corporation. It is also a member of International Wineries for Climate Action, a signatory of the Porto Protocol, a CarbonFund.org Partner, and is actively in the process of earning LEED Platinum certification for the production and administrative buildings, mostly historic, on its winery property.

Milliken helped to establish and is the founding chair of the Napa Valley Vintners Environmental StewardshipCommittee, which is actively advocating for environmental issues in the Napa Valley wine community.

Milliken stated, “I hope that we have shown California that being green is completely compatible and essential to making world-class wine.”