Badger Mountain

Our commitment to organic viticulture and wine production begins with our responsibility to the environment, and extends to producing a completely natural product for our customers. We use only organically approved and naturally occurring substances for all vineyard applications ~ this means no chemical insecticides, herbicides, fungicides or synthetic fertilizers. Like farmers for centuries before us, we rely on our experience and the advantageous use of our location, climate, volcanic soil, and organic techniques.

For insect control we use predatory insects (that eat the bad bugs) and apply natural soap compounds and other all natural materials. We use an in-row cultivator (hoe plowing) to control weeds in the grape rows and to mow the grass in the center. All grape skins and seeds are composted and returned to the vineyard, and cover crops of vetch and rye are grown between the vine rows for nitrogen and humus.  Our vines are trellised upright, using the Scott-Henry System; this improves sun penetration and air movement which develops character and balance in the grapes. We also utilize crop and shoot thinning to control vigor and limit yields, which increase flavors and aromas in the finished wines.

On the winery side, there is no co-mingling of organic and conventional ingredients and no exposure to federally prohibited materials during handling and production. The winery has also partnered with local restaurants to collect used cooking oil, which we convert to biodiesel at our facility; we use the recovered fuel to power our tractors and trucks. Both the vineyard and the winery are inspected annually by an independent certification agency to assure we are meeting all state and federal organic guidelines.

At Badger Mountain we balance tradition and technology to produce high quality organic fruit and fresh, interesting organic wines. We believe that stewardship in the vineyard, the winery and the community is rewarded with better wines, but more importantly we believe it is simply the right thing to do.