Martha Stewart Living highlighted Chateau Montelena and Winemaker Matt Crafton’s ongoing sustainability efforts in a story focused on dry farming. Until the 1970’s when irrigation became popular, dry farming was a popular method used to grow grapes in many leading wine regions. “Now some U.S. winemakers are renewing their focus on dry farming in the hopes that it can not only help them be more sustainable and continue farming in a changing climate, but also produce expressive wines.”
The writer notes that Chateau Montelena, “the small, family-owned and operated winery, is 100 percent powered by the sun” and is mostly dry farmed. Crafton speaks about the changing harvest season climates and pressures from the raging wildfires in context of how quickly his team needs to adapt. “We custom tailor our approach to winemaking, changing it based on what we see but with a view of the long term,” Crafton says. “What’s going to happen in 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, we’re trying to do it right now, so the next generation will be able to farm here.”
Read the much more in depth piece to learn more about this topic HERE
09.23.20-Martha-StewartRelated Wines
Chateau Montelena
Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Chardonnay 2017
Napa Valley, California
A true icon. The Napa Valley Chardonnay is the wine that put Chateau Montelena and Napa Valley at the forefront of the wine world in 1976, in what is now memorialized as “The Judgment of Paris.” To great disbelief, the Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Chardonnay was the top-ranking wine against four white Burgundies and five other California Chardonnays. And as they say, the rest is history.
Related Producers
Chateau Montelena
Calistoga, Napa Valley, California
In 1976 Chateau Montelena put California at the forefront of the wine world. That year a who's-who of the French wine establishment gathered in Paris for a blind tasting of French and American wines. When the scores were tallied, the top-ranking white wine was Chateau Montelena's 1973 Chardonnay. Montelena today continues to be a quality benchmark in Napa Valley, producing some of the finest Cabernet and Chardonnay in California.
