Cali's Wente Vineyards Goes to School

Give. Grow. Green. Three pretty simple words, yet each are loaded with meaning when we look at them individually. When I sit down to write a post for Green Globetrotter, those words -give/grow/green - are the mantra that plays in the back of my mind. The travelsphere is chock full of eco-driven initiatives today, happily obliging the conscious wanderers among us. But, many of those programs and initiatives aren't coming from a place of truth. They're greenwash, as we've come to dub them. And to combat it, I'm sticking with my give/grow/green concept, which rules that every idea is somehow giving back, encouraging growth, and promoting sustainability.

One example of a company that's leveraging their sustainable practices is Livermore, California's Wente Vineyards, who this weekend, will partner with a local college to educate students on their conservation practices. Ecology and biology students of Las Positas College will be participating, taking in the sights of The Course at Wente Vineyards and learning about its involvement with the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, as well as the Wente family's "Farming for the Future" philosophy.

"Farming for the Future" is a concept that extends across the family's 3,000 acres of Estate vineyards, into The Restaurant, the golf course and all property activities. Created in the early 1990s, it is a system of practices that enhances the vitality of the soils, nurtures a balanced and sustainable ecology, minimizes water use and reduces non-organic waste.

Cheers to that.