Great Bear Vineyards wins International Sustainable Agriculture Award

Great Bear Vineyards has received the International Sustainable Agriculture Award for its sustainable farming practices at the BioAg World Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 2-5. The Award is given to dynamic growers honored for using sustainable farming practices involving biological solutions in integrated crop management.

Great Bear Vineyards is a boutique winery in Davis, California, renowned for making small lots of world class and award-winning wines, such as their Cabernet Sauvignons that have won Double Gold Medals at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (the largest and most prestigious competition in the United States), and 93-Points from Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

The vineyard's sustainability practices include permanent cover cropping with rye grass and wildflowers, which provides habitat to native birds, small mammals, beneficial insects, and bee species. Soil health and water absorption are optimized through minimal mechanical disruption and application of beneficial microbes. The acreage is not treated with insecticides or rodenticides, nor synthetic fertilizers. The vineyard uses drip and deficit irrigation practices, conserving water and resulting in small berries with intense flavors and color. A portion of the vineyard is dedicated to organic practices, and the remainder follows sustainable grape protocols. The winery uses solar power and recycles wastewater for crop irrigation.

Winemaker, Jenny Meadows-Smith, studied Viticulture & Enology at University of California, Davis Extension and has advanced the winery's range of highly rated wines to include Malbec, Rioja-style Temperanillo, Chablis-style Chardonnay, Roussanne, and Albariño, as well as a natural wine of Cabernet Sauvignon. Professor Andrew Waterhouse is a friend of the winery and guides Jenny with ongoing education, as there is always more to learn about great wine.

"We are honored to receive this international award," shared Jenny. "Great wine starts in the vineyard, and we are passionate about growing quality grapes in harmony with nature. We share our bit of heaven in Yolo County with a host of wildflowers, insects, birds, and animals."

The vineyard and its sustainable management practices were designed by Michael Anderson, formerly of UC Davis, and Marcus Meadows-Smith.

Marcus is a recognized leader in sustainable agriculture having successfully led the transformational biopesticide innovator AgraQuest to its acquisition by Bayer CropScience. Marcus now leads another important startup, BioConsortia, which is at the cutting edge of sustainable solutions to reduce and replace synthetic Nitrogen fertilizers with natural Nitrogen-fixing microbes, and synthetic pesticides with highly effective microbial biopesticides.

Marcus said: "We love to put sustainable solutions into practice on our vineyard. We have always been passionate about the environment, food, and wine. It is very rewarding to produce fabulous wine while improving the land for future generations."

About Great Bear Vineyards:

A boutique family-run winery producing award-winning wines using premium, estate grown grapes. The grapes are always hand-tended and hand-picked. Voted Winery of the Year by Sacramento Magazine in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Their award-winning wines include: 93-Point Cabernet Sauvignon, Grand Reserve; 92-Point Cabernet Sauvignon, The Graduate; 96-Point Albariño; 91-Point Chardonnay and Roussanne; Gold & Double Gold Medals from San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Great Bear Vineyards grow organically, sustainably, and in harmony with nature. It is also home to breeding pairs of barn owls, great horned owls, hawks, and hummingbirds, as well as jackrabbits, cottontails, and occasionally foxes and coyotes.