45 Years of Sustainability at Frey Vineyards
Frey Vineyards sits at the heart of Mendocino County in Redwood Valley, tucked into the hills of Northern California. There, the Frey family grows organic grapes in organic vineyards and makes organic wine. Wine Enthusiast awarded Mendocino County the AVA (American Viticultural Area) of the Year award for 2024, in large part due to the sustainable winery practices in this area. Mendocino County is California’s greenest AVA, in large part, thanks to the efforts of the Frey family’s presence here. In addition to championing Organics and Biodynamics in winemaking, the Frey family has purchased tons of grapes over the years from local wineries, thereby encouraging the growers in the area to go Organic or Biodynamic.
What distinguishes Frey from many other businesses is that many of the family members work and live at Frey Vineyards. When Jonathan and Katrina Frey established Frey Vineyards, they were really organic farmers that took an opportunity to pioneer the organic wine movement here in the United States. They weren’t businesspeople looking to capitalize on a niche market; they were a family devoted to organic farming and gardening that decided to create the organic category in viticulture and winemaking. Their savvy business sense came out of the necessity of wanting to and needing to promote the category of Organics.
Before 1980, there weren’t any certified organic wineries in the US. Part of Frey’s mission from the beginning therefore has been to establish and sustain credentials that help the consumer to make informed choices. In 1980 when the family became the first certified organic winery in the country, there weren’t any credentialing agencies available at the federal level. The then newly bonded Frey Vineyards turned to California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) to help them make the first organic standard.
As time passed, Jonathan and Katrina Frey educated about organics at trade shows, to retail store operations, and for the general public. Their marketing efforts in the first several years of the business considerably helped to create and legitimize the organic category; by the mid-80s, Jonathan Frey worked with CCOF to draft the processing standards that became the NOP (National Organic Project) administered by the USDA. And, since then, Frey Vineyards has been certified organic by the USDA at the federal level.
In particular, Frey worked hard to ensure that the organic standard would not be diluted. To be certified organic, a bottle of wine must be made with high-quality organic grapes, and the wine must be produced organically with no additives, preservatives or synthetic chemicals.
As a green business, Frey noticed that conventional wine could be made with grapes sprayed with a litany of pesticides, fungicides and chemicals and also processed with literally dozens of different chemicals and processing aids. The family took every interest in doing something different, to find a greener way. There were initially about eight acres of (organic by default) wine grapes on the Frey property. The family maintained, pruned, and harvested them to sell off to other wineries for production in the 1960s. As the family made the decision to try their hand at wine production themselves, they expanded that initial investment by planting several different organic varietals on the home property. Today, Frey maintains about 350 acres of vineyards in Mendocino County, in Northern California.
The commitment to growing and processing organic wines sets Frey aside. The organic wine standard requires that the wines be made without added chemicals during growing or fermenting. While the Freys are still one of the few wineries producing certified organic wine, the market is growing considerably.
In fact, there are now two tiers of organic wines under the USDA. One category, that of “made with organic grapes” wines, has grown immensely in the last decade, with a flourish of wines who use organic fruits, but aren’t certified organic.
These wineries have made a commitment to organic agriculture, but don’t use organic methods to produce their wines. They are still allowed to use sulfites and other synthetic processing aids during their winemaking process. For that reason, they do not feature the USDA organic seal on their labels.
Conversely, when you purchase a bottle of any wine made at Frey Vineyards you are drinking a wine that was consciously made without any chemicals at any step of the process; Frey wines are organic from the grape to the glass, and every wine we make features the USDA organic symbol on the label. In addition to the original line of Frey wines from 1980, Frey Vineyards has branched out to expand their wine offerings considerably in the past five decades. Reaching new consumers within the organic wine market with the production of many new varietals on the Frey label, the Vineyards now produces a Pacific Redwood line, a collaboration with Kwaya Cellars, and also several Frey Biodynamic labels. This commitment to organic sets Frey apart in terms of sustainability both as a business and as purveyors of organic goods. Ever striving towards the greenest means possible of growing, fermenting, packaging, and delivering excellent wine, the Freys also helped pioneer the Biodynamic wine category by becoming the first certified Biodynamic winery in the country.
Demeter, the certifying body for Biodynamics, created the Biodynamic wine standard while Katrina was the president of the board. Biodynamic agriculture supports soil health through the application of various Biodynamic compost preparations to increase fertility. And, Katrina is particularly proud that she helped put into practice the requirement that farms maintain at least 10% of their land for native plants and biodiverse habitats. Frey Vineyards transitioned to Biodynamic viticulture in the 1990s. With the help of Frey’s Vineyard Manager, Derek Dahlen (who has a Masters Degree from New College in Biodynamics) and world-renown Biodynamic preparations maker, Luke Frey, Frey Vineyards has been able to create over ten different Biodynamic wine offerings. These high-quality estate grown and processed wines offer a tier of value-added purity and terroir for the conscious consumer.
Since Frey Vineyards’ inception as the first certified organic winery producing organic wine in the 1980s, the market has seen a steep increase in the number of organic wines available. Likewise, Biodynamic wines are increasing in popularity as the market sees how a high-quality wine can be made from Biodynamic grapes. How lovely to see the sustainable wine categories gaining recognition in the industry, as Biodynamics as a movement gains market traction, and the new category helps influence consumer choices towards the pinnacle of sustainability. When Frey set out to make wine, creating the greenest possible business led the way. Now, as Frey Vineyards celebrates their 45th anniversary, they are reflecting on the path that they have helped establish not just for their own wines, but for the greenest industry standards in the wine business!
Article by Molly Frey, who has spent most of the last two decades homesteading at Frey Vineyards with her husband and their son. In addition to over a decade raising a herd of goats that she walked through the vineyards as part of Frey’s Biodynamic program, Molly took on coordinating Frey’s social media presence for the last couple years. She is now becoming a traveling wine rep, bringing Frey wines all across the USA.