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 Napa County wine country is truly unique. Famous for prestigious gatherings, gala parties, gourmet dining and luxury touring, Napa County is one of the worlds premier tourist destinations. Each year more than five million visitors tour Napas glamourous wineries, restaurants and inns, admire the beautiful rustic scenery, get married, entertain business associates, sample wine and add upwards of $.5 million, aside from direct wine sales, to the local economy (Napa Valley Conference and Business Center 1997)
Yet wine country also keeps a dirty little secret hidden from its legions of admirers. Toxic pesticides -- many known or suspected to be air contaminants and to cause cancer, birth defects, nerve problems or flu and allergy symptoms -- are pumped onto NapaÍs world-famous vineyards on every sunny day between February and October. Many of these vineyards are just yards away from the wine-tasting rooms picnic areas filled with unsuspecting tourists.
As the following examples of pesticide use near a sampling of favorite tourist destinations shows, a trip to wine county can be a risky undertaking. A visit made on the wrong day can send a unwitting visitor away with ill effects that dont manifest themselves for hours, mimic other heath complaints and may never even be attributed to the excursion to wine country.
Until the wine industry pulls together and adopts ways of growing grapes that make obsolete its current dependence on chemicals, visitors to wine country should excercise caution. Women who are or who are planning to be pregnant, children, the elderly, allergic individuals and those with immune suppressive or other conditions exacerbated by exposures to toxic chemicals should avoid visiting areas where pesticide applications may be underway or recently have been completed. Unfortunately, because notification of pesticide use is practically non-existent until weeks or months after it occurs, visitors to wine country can only guess where that might be.
Note: The examples below indicate total annual synthetic pesticide use per acre for which toxicological information is available. They do not include calculations of sulfur, because it is an element, or soap, for which little toxicological data is available. Most vineyards apply pesticides numerous times each year; these examples note only the days of highest use.
Coming into Napa County from the south, the traveler finds vineyards predominating in the valleys and lower hills starting just north of Napa. Wineries popular as tourist destinations are set among the vineyards along some of the most scenic roads for tourist travel in the country.
Described below are several wineries and the pesticides used on vindyards surrounding them. They were chosen to illustrate the situation, not because they are particularly unique; similar examples exist throughout Napa and Sonoma counties.
All the vineyards in these areas use their own pest control regime. A few restrict their pesticide use to less toxic sulfur, but most are dependent on more dangerous synthetic pesticides, with the most commonly used among the most hazardous still on the market.
The vineyards below are described in geographical order like a tour guide, not in order of magnitude of pesticide use. As you tour (in your minds eye) through some of the most scenic tourist country in the world see if you can find which vineyard is drenched with the most pesticide or which one applied the biggest dose of super-toxic methyl bromide (hint: he makes movies).
Oak Knoll Drive, Napa: Trefethen Vineyards and Winery
This family-owned enterprise at 1160 Oak Knoll Drive produces wine from grapes grown exclusively on the 604-acre estate. Visitors can tour outdoor displays set under centuries-old trees. Those visitors probably did not know that of seven pounds of pesticides were applied per acre in 1995, beginning in February and occurring almost daily through the summer. The biggest applications occurred on June 17, with 71 pounds of myclobutanil; June 21, with 32 pounds of triflumizole; June 23, with 120 gallons of petroleum distillates; and June 28, with 183 pounds of triflumizole. Especially risky days of high pesticide use were on July 13, with 121 pounds of fenarimol; July 18, with 180 pounds of petroleum distillates; and July 22, with 161 pounds of triflumizole.
Silverado Trail in Stags Leap: Chimney Rock Winery,Clos du Val Wine Company, Stags Leap Wine Cellars, and Pine Ridge Winery.
Chimney Rock Winery, 5350 Silverado Trail At Hack and Stella Wilsons 65-acre vineyard at the winery, visited by 50,000 people in 1995, a relatively low 1.1 pounds of pesticides were applied per acre. The most dangerous days of pesticide application were February 12, with 48 pounds of napropamide and June 12, with 20 gallons of glyphosate
Clos du Val Wine Company, 5330 Silverado Trail At the 145-acre vineyard at the winery, where many of the 100,000 annual visitors picnic under old oak trees, co-owner Bernard Portet oversaw the use of 3.2 pounds per acre of pesticides. Two especially risky days were February 22, when an astonishing 90 pounds of glyphosate, 97.5 pounds of oxyfluorfen, 141 pounds of simazine and 82 pounds of oryzalin were mixed and sprayed, and August 12, when 34 pounds of fenarimol were applied.
Robert Mondavi Oak Knoll Vineyard, 5589 Silverado Trail (between nearby Clos Du Bal and Stags Leap wineries) David Heil managed Mondavis 400-acre vineyard with a low -- relative to other vineyards in the area -- 1.2 pounds per acre of pesticides. But two days stand out as the most toxic: July 29, with 69 pounds of dimethoate and July 26, with 45 pounds of myclobutanil.
Stags Leap Wine Cellars, 5766 & 5630 Silverado Trail Watch out at Barbara and Warren Winiarskis two vineyards! At their 38-acre vineyard , pesticides were applied at 10.3 pounds and 0.2 gallons per acre. At their world famous winery just down the road -- which drew 45,000 visitors to the terraced, tree-shaded site can -- the Winiarskis drenched the 65-acre vineyard with 11.6 pounds and 0.2 gallons of pesticides per acre. The most acutely dangerous days to visit were May 8, when a huge 405 pounds of dimethoate and 15 pounds of myclobutanil were used, and July 17, when, in another round of pesticide frenzy, 480 pounds of dimethoate, 160 pounds of diphacinone and 20 pounds of myclobutanil were applied in just one day.
Pine Ridge Winery, 5674 & 5901 Silverado Trail Vineyard workers for Nancy and Gary Andrus applied pesticides at a whopping rate of 19.4 pounds per acres at their six-acre vineyard at 5674 Silverado Trail. At their 22.5-acre vineyard at the winery -- where picnic tables, swings for children and a trail to the ridge are provided for 40,000 annual visitors -- a chemical brew of seven pounds and 0.4 gallons of pesticide per acre were applied. At both vineyards, pesticides were spread over many days of the growing season.
Turnbull Ranch Vineyard, 5910 Silverado Trail (just north of Pine Ridge Winery) Pesticides were applied at a very high rate at this 13-acre vineyard -- 12.2 pounds and 0.5 gallons per acre. Especially risky days of pesticide application were April 18, with 24 pounds of mancozeb, May 2, with 24 pounds of diphacinone, and May 7, with 96 pounds of dimethoate.
TaylorÍs Vineyards, 5991 Silverado Trail (just north of Pine Ridge Winery) Jerry and Pat Taylor soaked their 10 acre vineyard with a huge rate of 21.6 pounds per acre of pesticides. Heaviest days of pesticide use were March 27, with 50 pounds of carbaryl, March 29, with 54 pounds of dimethoate, and April 21, with 54 pounds of dimethoate.
St. Helena Highway, Rutherford: Beaulieu Vineyard & Quail Ridge Winery, Niebaun-Coppola Estate Winery, Peju Province Winery, St. Suprey Vineyards and Winery, and Sequoia Grove Vineyards
Beaulieu Vineyard (and Quail Ridge Winery) , 1960 St. Helena Highway Near the winery -- which hosts 110,000 guests through the season -- is Beauieus 65-acre vineyard, where 1.5 pounds and 0.3 gallons of pesticides were applied per acre. Most notable was 56 pounds of myclobutanil divided between July 17 and August 2.
Niebaun-Coppola Estate Winery, 1991 St. Helena Highway Movie director Francis Ford Cappola and wife Eleanor made tourists an offer they couldnt refuse when the pair oversaw the application of an enormous 42,120 pounds of methyl bromide to their 170-acre vineyard. Days when the highly toxic and infamous air contaminant (and ozone-depleting chemical) was pumped into the soil at the elegant spread were August 8, with 14,800 pounds, and October 31, with 23,400 pounds.
Peju Province Winery, 8466 St. Helena Highway (despite the big leap in street address, this winery is just down the road from the Coppolas) Owner and pesticide applicator Anthony Peju used 9.3 pounds of pesticide per acre on his 22-acre vineyard at the winery. He also hosted 85,000 visitors, who were invited to stroll in the formal garden. Peju used a total of 2,240 pounds of methyl bromide, applying 1,960 pounds on September 6 and 280 pounds on November 8. Did he close the winery or warn his customers for several days following the application? No law says he must. Other especially dangerous days to visit were April 10 and 22, and May 18, when on each day 40 pounds of mancozeb were applied.
St. Suprey Vineyards and Winery, 8440 St. Helena Highway Only a small, apparently organic display vineyard grows at the winery, which hosts 100,000 people each year. Visitors on certain days (and the week following those days) were lucky if the wind blew away from local methyl bromide applications. Nearby vineyards which used methyl bromide, in addition the vineyards which are highlighted along this stretch of St. Helena Highway, included: Honig Cellars, which applied 2,120 pounds of methyl bromide on its 60-acre vineyard at 850 Rutherford Cross Road August 2; the eight-acre Hill Ranch at 1500 Manley Road, which applied 2,700 pounds of methyl bromide September 14; 33 acres on the north side of Manley Lane three-tenths of a mile west of St. Helena Highway, which applied 4,100 pounds of methyl bromide November 11; and the 22-acre vineyard at 1399 Bella Oaks Lane, which applied 2,800 pounds of methyl bromide November 18.
Sequoia Grove Vineyards, 8338 St. Helena Highway James Allen and family played a Halloween trick when they applied 2,400 pounds of methyl bromide to their 18 acres at the winery October 31. Some 40,000 tourists, including several wedding parties, visited at the AllenÍs 19th century barn, lured in part by the picnic area shaded by century-old sequoia trees.
St. Helena Highway, St. Helena: Sutter Home Winery, Louis Martini Winery, Heitz Wine Cellers, Villa Helena Winery, and V. Sattui Winery
Sutter Home Winery, 277 St. Helena Highway (at Lewelling Avenue) The Trinchero family hosts 350,000 visitors at its White Zinfandel Garden and popular visitorsÍ center. There isnÍt a vineyard at the winery but several neighboring vineyards used the extremely toxic air-contaminent methyl bromide. These included vineyards at 1795 Lewelling Avenue, where Douglas Wight had 4,500 pounds of methyl bromide pumped into 13 acres on September 28; at 1945 Lewelling Avenue, where Russel and Janice Wight used 4,500 pounds of methyl bromide September 27 at their 14-acre vineyard ; and at 1946 Lewelling Avenue, where Douglas Wight used 3,900 pounds of methyl bromide November 10.
Louis Martini Winery, 254 St. Helena Highway Carolyn and Michael Martini are now running grandfather LouisÍ fine old winery where they host 350,000 visitors per year. The brother and sister team operate a seven-acre vineyard surrounding the winery where they applied 2,960 pounds of methyl bromide on October 30. Although the Martinis under Louis and after have maintained a tradition of low pesticide use on their various vineyards, their one weakness has been a mistaken reliance on methyl bromide for pre-plant and replant fumigations.
Heitz Wine Cellers, 436 St. Helena Highway Joe Heitz hosted 9,000 visitors at the winery, where he used seven pounds per acre of pesticides. On one especially outstanding day, May 18, he applied 26 pounds of mancozeb.
V. Sattui Winery, 1111 White Lane (at St. Helena Highway) Darryl Sattui hosts 300,000 visitors, including weddings every weekend in the summer, at his winery located in the vicinity of all the pesticide use mentioned above. At his own 31-acre vineyard not far away at the corner of Ragatz and Trubody, Darryl drenched the fields with an utterly incredible 39 pounds of some of the most toxic pesticides available! The worst days were when Ron Rosenbrand, working for C. Mondavi and Company vineyard management, applied 400 pounds of carbaryl on April 1, 62 pounds of copper hydroxide on April 12, 248 pounds of dimethoate on May 6 and another 248 pounds of dimethoate on May 26.
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