Gold foil & wax seals

Once we had the name “Italics” we wanted the label to simply frame the word. It is a pretty interesting name, after all. So we figured, let’s just get out of its way. But then the designer showed us what it would look like with name embossed. We really liked that. Then he added gold foil. We liked that even more. And then he showed us what it would look like with an embossed border and a wax seal and…

We said “Yes” to all of it. The labels are even printed on a stock so thick that the labels have to be applied by hand, one by one, well after the wine has been bottled. Did things get out of hand? Maybe a little. But we have no regrets. The packaging perfectly expresses the product: rich, refined and classic. But to the folks in Accounting, it says we’re nuts.

Happily, we are among the first wineries to pipe in reclaimed water from Napa Valley’s new recycled water project. There, wastewater is treated through a series of processes – settling, oxidation, clarification, coagulation, filtration and disinfection – then pumped back out to customers. Obviously, anything we would use to irrigate our vines has to meet strict standards, not just for clarity but also salinity and toxicity. This does.

The benefits of using recycled water are twofold: we help preserve the amount of potable water for human consumption and we limit the discharge of treated wastewater into the Bay. Now if only we could clean up our Sales Director’s expense account.

Going solar

Wineries suck up a lot of electricity. So when we installed our solar array, we saw it as a cost-cutting move. Turns out the benefits to the planet are even greater.

By generating almost 100 kilowatts of electricity – roughly what we use in a year – the array keeps 100 tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Over the system’s 50-year working life, it will produce 6 million kilowatts of energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5,000 tons – the equivalent of 5 million miles of driving.