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Napa County Wine Industry
- While it may appear to the casual observer that Napa County is bursting with grapevines, the truth is that only nine percent of Napa County is planted in vineyards and less than three percent remains suitable for grape planting, according to the findings of the Napa County Watershed Task Force.
- Napa County encompasses 485,120 acres in total and just 45,275 acres are planted in vineyards.
- Our reputation in the world of wine is huge, yet Napa Valley accounts for only four percent of California's total wine production.
- Napa Valley accounts for only five percent of total United States vineyard acreage.
- In 1968, Napa Valley vintners and others in the community had the forethought to preserve open space and prevent future over-development of 30,000 acres by enacting the nation's first Agriculture Preserve. Since its adoption, not one acre of land has been removed from the Preserve.
- The Napa Valley Vintners, through Auction Napa Valley, has dedicated almost $2 million to Napa Valley Community Housing to fund affordable housing projects, including those that house farmworkers.
- Vineyards and surrounding open space provide a natural habitat for a variety of wildlife species and many growers invite birds, including owls and hawks, into their vineyards by installing special protective bird boxes. The birds of prey help control rodent and pest populations in and around the vineyards.
- The most commonly used pest control method in Napa Valley is sulfur. Sulfur, an organic fungicide, is used to control mildew and rot in fruits and ornamental plants. Sulfur is a natural compound found in mineral form in both aquatic and soil environments, and is certified for use in organic farming.
- Auction Napa Valley, the Napa Valley Vintners' community fundraiser, is the world's most successful wine charity event, having given $85 million to Napa County healthcare, youth service and affordable housing non-profits.
- Napa County has a long, rich history in grape growing with the first vines planted in 1838-1839 by George Yount. The first wine from these vines was produced in the mid-1840s.
- In the late 1850s, Los Angeles had ten times as many vines as did Napa.
- The familiar statue on Highway 29 that greets those who enter Napa County from the south is called The Grapecrusher. The bronze sculpture by Gino Miles, was erected in 1987 and is dedicated to the workers who labor in the vineyards.
