Saving Every Drop: Lessons Learned and Innovation in Regenerative Viticulture
This discussion will explore regenerative viticulture’s impact on water conservation in this engaging webinar. Learn from experts as they share strategies for saving water in vineyards. Discover innovative approaches that promote sustainable water management while maintaining wine quality. This webinar inspires vineyard owners, winemakers, and enthusiasts to embrace regenerative viticulture for a sustainable future, preserving water resources and ensuring the wine industry’s longevity.
Jessica Villat will host the talk with Elizabeth Whitlow (Regenerative Organic Alliance), Mimi Casteel (Regenerative Viticulture Foundation) and Francisco Font (Associación de Viticultura Regenerativa).
Author: theportoprotocol
Speakers
Francesc FontVice-President and Co-Founder of the Association of Regenerative ViticultureNinth generation farmer, agricultural engineer and international consultant specializing in regenerative agriculture. Founder and CEO of the consultancy Agroassessor and The Regem Academy. Promoter of The Regen Latam project, proposed to offer regenerative training and consulting in Latin America. Vice President of the Regenerative Viticulture Association.
Writer of two books: Rooted in the Earth and Regenerative Agriculture.- Jessica VillatExpert in Strategy, Regenerative Agriculture and Marketing
A French-American with Corsican and Osage Indian blood, Jessica is passionate about sustainability, nature regeneration, and people. She grew up in Cabasson in Provence, home of rosé wines, in Bordeaux and in Northern California near the Napa Valley, where she had a chance to volunteer at the Schramsberg winery.
Her thesis on regenerative viticulture during her Master’s degree in Sustainability from Harvard earned her the Dean’s Prize, and her findings were presented at the launch of the Regenerative Viticulture Foundation. She also holds a Masters in English from San Francisco State University and a Bachelors in History from the University of California, San Diego. She conceived and established the nature writing-in-residence program at the Jan Michalski Foundation in Switzerland, and has worked across the nature conservation, philanthropic, financial, insurance, cultural, and educational sectors before turning her efforts to regenerative agriculture.
For her, what makes regenerative viticulture distinctive is its “absolute focus on living soil “: feeding the soil to feed the vine.” Rather than asking what’s wrong with the vine, we need to think in terms of the whole ecosystem – which natural levers to pull to enable it to be in better balance,” she explains in a recent article on regenerative viticulture for Decanter Magazine.
Jessica currently lives with her partner and two children in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, surrounded by vineyards including the UNESCO World Heritage Lavaux Terraces. In her free time, she is part of the local government, loves spending time outdoors, and puts much effort into regenerating the land she lives on. Her dream is to continue doing research and consulting in regenerative agriculture and to have her own farm and vineyard to steward one day.
Mimi CasteelOwner and Winemaker at Hope WellMimi grew up on her family’s vineyard, Bethel Heights. Growing up working in the vineyard and winery, Mimi gained such an appreciation for the industry that she promptly left home after high school. Armed with a BA in History and Classics from Tulane University, Mimi spent the next year working in various National Forests across the west. Her adventures fueled her passion for studying botany, forestry, and ecology. Mimi earned her MS from Oregon State University in Forest Science, and spent the next several years working as a botanist and ecologist for the Forest Service, living in the backcountry. Her work in the forests led her to realize that the greatest threats to the future of the planet and all species had to be addressed at its root – in the agricultural and working land base. Mimi returned to Bethel Heights in 2005, where she implemented new farming systems and began a journey of experimentation and discovery. In 2016 Mimi left Bethel Heights to grow and make wine at her home vineyard and living laboratory, Hope Well. Hope Well is the living model for a habitat-based regenerative model for agriculture. Mimi’s experiments are all with the goal of producing the most nutrient-dense, healthy food and wine, while recovering the natural systems of nutrient cycling, improving biodiversity and species retention, and maximizing the function and output of a diverse ecosystem.
