Castoro Cellars named Environmental Winery of the Year by wine alliance
The Udsen Family.
–The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance has awarded Castoro Cellars with the 2020 Environmental Winery of the Year Award. Castoro Cellars has over 1,400 planted acres of organic and sustainably certified vineyards (one of the largest on the Central Coast), multiple large-scale solar array projects, a state-of-the-art wastewater system, and other sustainable practices in place.
In the process of transitioning all Castoro vineyards to organically grown, their operation has eliminated the use of any harmful additions of chemicals. This is not only important to the longevity of the soil these vines are planted in, but also to the employees who work in these vineyards. Workers in these vineyards never encounter harmful pesticides or herbicides. Castoro Cellars’ solar projects are spread across multiple vineyard and winery properties, these panels offset 100-percent of all electricity needed for day-to-day operations. Another project that is 100-percent solar powered as well is the wastewater system at the Castoro Cellars production facility. These solar panels power two blowers which feed submersible aerators. The submersible aerators oxygenate the wastewater while a solar-powered pump introduces sludge reducing bacteria incrementally that breaks down solid waste.
Castoro Cellars is always looking at ways to reduce carbon emissions and create a more sustainable way to operate every aspect of their operations. One new future initiative is using all electrically powered ATV’s throughout the vineyards and operational facilities. “Our goal is to be able to continue farming and producing wines for generations to come and we feel that organic and sustainable practices companywide are the only way to ensure that outcome is a reality.”
Visit their tasting room which is located at 1315 N. Bethel Rd. in Templeton. Visit them online at CastoroCellars.com.
