Off the coast of California, south of Salinas and located at the base of the Santa Lucia Mountains, clusters of high-quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes ripen in the cooling fog, warming sun, and perfect soil. Isabelle's Vineyard is just one of several vineyards owned by Scheid Family Wines. In addition to the fog, sun, and soil, all Scheid vineyards benefit from the wind, an extra element that plays a vital role in the company's award-winning wines. "Wind power. It's extremely windy here. The winds are very dependable. They can sometimes blow 24 hours a day," explained Heidi Scheid, executive vice president of Scheid Family Wines. For the past eight years, at the Scheid campus, a 400-foot-tall wind turbine has been harnessing the wind. It generates 100% of the power needed to run Scheid's state-of-the-art winery and bottling operations. Scheid is believed to be the largest winery in the world that's powered by renewable energy. "So, it's a lot of power, and the good thing is that our turbine is able to handle all of that power," exclaimed George Zavala, cellar master of winery operations. "Sustainability has been one of our core values since our family founded this business in 1972," added Scheid. The company produces 900,000 cases of wine a year, markets 10 global brands, as well as a broad spectrum of private label brands sold at grocery stores across the United States. Scheid Family Wines farms 2,500 acres of vineyards throughout Monterey County. "We grow quite a few different varietals. We actually grow 36 different varietals," Scheid said. The late Al Scheid founded the company more than 50 years ago as a grape grower. His daughter explained how he was "green" from the get-go. "It was just always important to him. Sustainability. From the very beginning," she noted. Inside the huge Scheid facility at Greenfield, Zavala took CBS News Bay Area on a tour. He said the juice provided by the wind turbine is critical for their vintages, as he pointed to a large contraption. "We're filtering our chardonnay right now, and this will be bottled in the next two days," explained Zavala. The company is an award-winning and California-certified sustainable winery and vineyard. Skylights naturally light up the facility, and automatic light sensors turn on and off as needed. The wine tanks are equipped with insulating jackets. A significant acreage is certified as organic under strict California standards. High-tech sensors deliver just enough water to each vine and not a drop more. Two hundred and fifty owl boxes are located throughout the vineyards. Owls, and not pesticides, take care of any rodents that run around the vineyards, gnawing on the valuable vines. Even the bottles use less glass, making them lighter and cheaper to transport. "Having a lighter weight bottle and one that has less environmental impact is really great from start to finish," Scheid said. According to the company's calculations, the clean energy generated by the wind turbine is the equivalent of taking almost 4,500 gas-guzzling cars off the road for an entire year. The turbine generates so much electricity that the excess amount also powers 234 local homes. "We're really only using half of what we need to power it," explained Scheid. "The rest of the wind power generated actually goes back onto the grid." A toast to Scheid, where the winds of change bear significant fruit.
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