Sustainability
Roots, Rock and Respect
Sustainable Farming, Sustainable Living
An ardent believer that we are stewards of the land we farm, Fred Peterson has a reverence for vineyard practices that create and maintain healthy soils and ecosystems. “Sustainability means maintaining and nourishing resources with using up or destroying them,” said Fred. This wholistic and environmentally friendly philosophy has been an integral part of his vineyard practices since he began working in vineyards in the1970’s.
Fred’s University of California Davis viticulture and enology degree led him to a career in vineyard development and management, and later, he served as a vineyard consultant for numerous properties throughout Northern California. He’s always embraced sustainable farming in every vineyard he’s planted and nurtured in his long and storied career. These practices continue and have been refined in his own Bradford Mountain vineyard.
Among the sustainable/
regenerative practices
Fred uses at his Bradford Mountain Estate Vineyard include:
- Water Conservation: The estate vineyard is dry farmed; the vines do not receive any supplemental water during the growing season relying on water stored in the soil from the winter and spring rains.
- Soil Health/Organic Matter: An annual cover crop of snow peas, bell beans, vetch, oats and barley is planted in the fall and grows through the winter and spring creating biomass and fixing nitrogen for the vines. Late spring the cover crop is lightly disced into the soil to add organic matter and contribute to improved soil structure.
- Annual Compost Application: After each harvest an application of local organic compost is made to provide nutrients for the cover crop and contribute to the both the soils water holding capacity and healthier soil.
- Wildlife Habitat: Creating pollinator and bird friendly plantings and hedge rows to encourage predation of harmful insect by beneficial bugs and insect eating bird species. Ponds and wetlands to host wild life to maintain the balance of nature alongside the vineyard blocks.
Fred’s desire for sustainability extends beyond the land. These practices and the overarching philosophy are woven into his relationships with people — the other growers from whom he purchases grapes, the vineyard workers that help him tend his vines, the distributors who sell Peterson wines throughout the US and the UK, the winery staff, and anyone who shows an interest in Peterson wines.
