Lail Vineyards Receives Napa Green Certification, And Reduces Waste by Eliminating Foil Capsules, Using Lighter Bottles, and Shorter Corks

ST. HELENA, Calif. (July 31, 2024) – Robin Daniel Lail, founder and president of Lail Vineyards, is pleased to announce that the company continues to take significant steps to reduce its carbon footprint. Lail Vineyards has received Napa Green certification for its regeneratively farmed estate vineyards, has removed foil capsules from the necks of its wine bottles, and beginning with 2022 J. Daniel Cuvée Cabernet Sauvignon and 2022 Blueprint Cabernet Sauvignon, the winery will use shorter corks and bottles that weigh 13% – 20% less than before. For years Lail Vineyards has also been donating 10% of online sales of their Blueprint wines to innovative organizations fighting climate change including Cool Effect, Climeworks, and The Porto Protocol, and will continue to do so.

In addition to running Lail Vineyards, Robin Daniel Lail is also the International Ambassador for The Porto Protocol, a global organization that encourages its members to share practical knowledge and everyday practices to empower their peers in the wine industry to mitigate climate change and promote sustainability. She believes that the collective voices and actions of many can produce solutions and change.

“Agriculture is suffering the direct effects of climate change, and the challenge of finding a solution can be overwhelming, which can make some people feel paralyzed,” said Robin Daniel Lail, President & Co-Founder of Lail Vineyards. “Although we’re a small company, we think it’s very important to do as much as we can to implement solutions and to diminish our contributions to overheating our planet. We believe that no change is too small.”

The recent changes made by the Lail Vineyards team include:

Conversion of their farming practices in 2021 to regenerative agriculture, also known as carbon farming. It puts organic matter back into the soil, efficiently storing more water and drawing more carbon out of the atmosphere. The recent Napa Green certification recognizes Lail Vineyards’ achievements in climate action, regenerative farming and social justice.

Lail Vineyards’ premier wine, J. Daniel Cuvée Cabernet Sauvignon, has received eight 100-point reviews from major critics. The 2022 vintage of J. Daniel Cuvée Cabernet Sauvignon and 2022 Blueprint Cabernet Sauvignon will be presented in bottles that are 13% – 20% lighter than before – and without foil capsules. 2022 Blueprint Cabernet Sauvignon will be released next month, and 2022 J. Daniel Cuvée Cabernet Sauvignon will be released in March, 2025.

Additionally, 2022 J. Daniel Cuvée Cabernet Sauvignon will have a shorter cork. Longer corks can only be cut from a part of the tree that is difficult to grow and harvest. Lail Vineyards is shifting to 49 millimeter corks instead, which are more sustainable to produce.

Lail Vineyards’ Georgia Sauvignon Blanc was the first Graves-style Sauvignon Blanc produced in the U.S. When it debuted in 2002, wine critic Robert Parker called it “California’s most complex and multi-dimensional Sauvignon Blanc.” It’s now bottled without a foil capsule on the neck of the bottle, which reduces waste and simplifies the recycling process.

Lail Vineyards’ 2024 Blueprint Sauvignon Blanc will be released in June, 2025 in a lighter bottle and without a foil capsule.

About Lail Vineyards

Lail Vineyards produces the highest quality wines from the Napa Valley while adhering to what’s right for the land and the surrounding community. A partnership among fourth-generation vintner Robin Daniel Lail and her daughters, Erin and Shannon, Lail Vineyards is guided by history, family, quality and sustainability. Epitomizing meaningful luxury, Lail’s wines are sought after by collectors around the world. They are made with the utmost care from among the finest vineyards in the world, regeneratively farmed with a long-term commitment to continual improvement and experimentation. The wines are haute couture, with no corners cut. Lail’s Blueprint prêt-a-porter-style wines offer accessibility within an equally meaningful context of grandeur. When Robin, Erin and Shannon launched Lail Vineyards in 1995, they enlisted winemaker Philippe Melka, who remains their winemaker to this day, along with Maayan Koschitzky, Atelier Melka’s Director of Winemaking.

Robin Lail’s great-granduncle, Gustav Niebaum, established Inglenook in 1879. Her beloved father, John Daniel, Jr., created wines that are regarded among the best of the 20th Century. The wines of Lail Vineyards are born from generations of winemaking knowledge in Napa Valley, a legacy that remains Lail’s steadfast compass. An inventive community leader, Robin partnered with Robert Mondavi to organize the first Auction Napa Valley in 1981, and has since raised more than $230 million for local organizations over the years, creating a lasting legacy of generosity. Robin joined the global fight against climate change in 2019, and is the International Ambassador for the Porto Protocol.