How much water does it take to grow grapes?

Wine is AwesomeBut how much water does a vineyard use?

• California makes 90% of all U.S. wine • 4,100 bonded wineries (nearly all family owned)

• 214.6 million cases produced• 5,900 wine grape growers• 570,000 acres of wine grapes• 4.24 million tons of wine grapes harvestedSource: Wine Institute, http://www.wineinstitute.org/

• IME also estimates that 30-50% (1.2 billion tons of all food produced is lost before reaching a human stomach, and water required to meet food demand in 2050 could about triple the current amount used annually by humans

Common beverages Amount of Water

Milk 255 liters per 250 ml glass

Wine 109 liters per 250 ml glass

Beer 74 liters per 250 ml glass

Tea 27 liters per 250 ml cup

Water needed to produce common beverages

(Institute of Mechanical Engineers)

On average, it takes 6 gallons of water

to produced 1 gallon of wine

It’s up to California• Wineries are conserving water• Wineries are reducing water• At UC Davis Research winery,

they’ve achieved a 4.5 gallons of water to produce a gallon of wine.

What Water?

• Backwash/effluent from process water system• Ion exchange regeneration• General sanitation/crush equipment• Product fermentation• Tank Washing• Filtration

What are Vineyard managers doing to conserve water?

In Paso Robles Vineyard managers are saving water by:

• Pressure Bombs to measure sap flow and water needs of vines (J. Lohr)

• Dry Farm IE, rely on rainfall for deep rooted vines (Turley Wine Cellars)

• Monitor soil moisture is all sections of vineyard, to optimize irrigation ( Pear Vineyards Valley )

• Use recycled wastewater from winery plus rainwater collection (Pear valley Vineyards)

• Use rainwater collection to feed pond used as source for irrigation water (Halter ranch)

• Select cover crops to give soil better structure and allow water and nutrients to penetrate to root depth (Pipestone Vineyards)

What Vintners can do additionally to Reduce their Water

Consumption• Plant Grapes with Drought Tolerant Root Stocks

• Eliminate Excessive Weed or cover Crop Growth

• Install modern drip Irrigation

• Use Deficit Irrigation, ie less water applied than potential need

• Reduce use of sprinkler frost protection—Use wind machines or other

• Expand Use of Moisture sensors - (Source: San Luis Obispo Tribune)

Drip Irrigation

• Less water used overall• Can vary amount used with weather conditions, vows, stress

requirements

Root StockExamples of Deep Root Stock for Wine Grapes

• Ramsey, 140Rv, 1103P, 110R

Targets include:

• Salt and Drought Tolerance

• Disease and Pest Resistance

• Vigor and other Growth • Characteristics

• Notes: Fumigants are often used before planting vineyard. Soil preparation, choice of irrigation method, and soil nutrient addition affect success of rootstock and variety elections.

A Sustainable Winery

FarNiente Winery and Vineyards Far Niente (Napa) and its sister wineries follow an integrated program of sustainable measures affecting vineyard, winery and day-to-day business practices.

Far Niente's sustainable wineries are: • Solar powered, net-zero users of electricity• Organically farmed vineyards• Reuse process water from winery operations for vineyard irrigation and frost protection.• Power farming vehicles with biodiesel fuel.• Replaced conventional company cars with hybrid-engine vehicles.• Recycle extensively at the wineries.

How does your winery save

water?• Tell us! Info(at) winsecrets.com

Presentation by

www.winesecrets.com

Information Courtesy ofJames N. Seiber

Department of Environmental ToxicologyUniversity of California, Davis, CA 95616

Valentino Tiangco and Joselito Real RST Cellars Davis, CA