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View Winners → A Toast To Sustainability- Bella Sera offers unique dining experience Aug 13
Monrovia Weekly Aug 12, 2014
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A Toast To Sustainability
When it comes to reducing the carbon footprint, many restaurants take it seriously. And when considering our food sources, Bella Sera partners with only the best.
Shannon Ridge Winery walk their talk. They are a Certified California Sustainable Vineyard and have been since 2008. Nestled 35 miles north of Napa County, the vineyard is home to The Shannon Family, about 1,200 sheep, a shorthorn bull named Joe, numerous owls, jackrabbits, hawks, eagles and well…you get the picture.
So, what is the secret to the Shannon’s success? Ewe guessed it…the sheep!
Before veraison, the grape-growing term for “onset of ripening,” these sheep are like little mowers, eating the leaves from the vines, controlling the cover crop, and yes fertilizing the fields naturally! And when the grapes become juicy and full of sugar, the sheep are moved to a non-crop area so they don’t eat the bounty. After the harvest, the sheep are brought back to clean up. By that time they are happy and wooly and ready for their annual shearing. Wool and grass-fed lamb have consequently become important bi-products of Shannon Ridge sustainability.
Vineyard owner Clay Shannon, believes one should think about every action before actually doing it. And in that way, he hopes to create the most natural wine product possible. We’ll toast to Shannon Ridge wines and to their efforts toward sustainability.
