Farming Practices
At Ceago we use the best of old and new farming techniques to produce the highest quality grapes showcasing our terroir. Our vineyards are Certified Sustainable through California Sustainable Winegrowing (CCSW-Certified) and are incorporated with Organic and Biodynamic farming methods to produce the highest quality fruit for our winery partners.
The long-term mission of CCSW and Ceago’s commitment through certification is:
- Establishing voluntary high standards of sustainable practices to be followed and maintained by the entire wine community
- Enhancing winegrower-to-winegrower and vintner-to-vintner education on the importance of sustainable practices and how self-governing will enhance the economic viability and future of the wine community
- Demonstrating how working closely with neighbors, communities and other stakeholders to maintain an open dialogue can address concerns, enhance mutual respect, and accelerate results
And to become certified through CCSW we are required at a minimum to comply with:
- An annual Self-Assessment on our vineyards using the California Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Workbook and supporting evidence to demonstrate accuracy of category choices (1-4) or non-applicability for SWP criteria during a regularly scheduled third-party audit
- Meets all prerequisite criteria (50 vineyard pre-requisites) by scoring a 2 or higher for specific criteria, or have an action plan in place to improve performance
- Demonstration of a process for identifying the key sustainability issues for our company, prioritizing areas for improvement, and establishing Action Plans that are implemented and updated annually
- The ability to demonstrate practices that maintain or improve category choices (1-4) for SWP criteria and methods to correct any items identified internally or by an auditor as inconsistent with SWP Self-Assessment categories
- Demonstrates continuous improvement over time
For a full detailed description and requirements for CCSW certification please click here or visit http://www.sustainablewinegrowing.org.
Ceago has a long history of responsible farming practices within the Sustainable, organic and Biodynamic wine community. Even though we are currently only certified Sustainable, we utilize organic and Biodynamic farming methods within our vineyard and Vinegarden.
We feel it is very important to look at the “whole farm” and how it works. Using sound sustainable practices produces the highest quality fruit within our terroir.
