California Green Medal

Green Medal Program Logo

HOW TO APPLY

  1. Determine if your vineyard or winery is eligible to apply by reviewing the eligibility section below. 
  2. Decide which award you’re applying for: Environment, Business or Community, and decide if you will also apply for the Leader award.  
  3. Download the application (below) and complete offline. 
  4. Gather required supporting documentation and upload to a linkable location (i.e., Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.).
  5. When done completing the application offline, transcribe your responses into the online application (linked below). 
  6. Email us with any questions you have about the application process: info@greenmedal.org 
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DOWNLOAD APPLICATION

IMPORTANT:
Final applications are submitted via the online form below.
Do not submit your application as a Word document.  

ELIGIBILITY

  • All applicants must be a California vineyard and/or winery.
  • All applicants must have participated in a California sustainability program within the past 12 months (e.g., California Green Business Program, California Sustainable Winegrowing Self-Assessment Program, Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing, Fish Friendly Farming, LandSmart®, LODI RULES for Sustainable Winegrowing, LODI RULES Self-Assessment, Napa Green, SIP Certified®, SIP Certified® Self-Assessment).
  • Previous winners of the Environment, Community or Business award must wait five years to reapply. Previous winners of the Leader award must wait 10 years to reapply for the Leader award and five years to reapply for the Environment, Business and Community award categories. 

AWARD CATEGORIES

California vineyard and winery applicants select one award category: Environment, Community or Business.
They may also apply for the Leader award.   

LEADER AWARD

Honoring the vineyard and/or winery that best demonstrates the ability to balance the “3 E’s” of sustainability, (Environmentally sound, socially Equitable and Economically viable) and excels in each of these areas.

ENVIRONMENT AWARD

Honoring the vineyard and/or winery that best demonstrates Environmental Stewardship through maximized environmental benefits from implementing sustainable practices.

COMMUNITY AWARD

Honoring the vineyard and/or winery that is a Good Neighbor and Employer using the most innovative practices that enhance relations with employees, neighbors and/or communities.

BUSINESS AWARD

Honoring the vineyard and/or winery that best demonstrates Smart Business through efficiencies, cost savings and innovation from implementing sustainable practices.

 

 

APPLICATION TIPS

 Here are tips for producing a comprehensive and competitive application: 

  1. Answer all questions even if not directly related to the category you are applying for. This helps demonstrate your overall sustainability.
  2. Include supporting documentation, including a recent copy of your certificate for sustainability certification programs, if applicable. 
  3. Focus on practices, projects or initiatives that have taken place in the past three years, with a particular emphasis on the past year.
  4. Include specific examples along with supporting metrics whenever possible. 
  5. Collaborate with others when completing the application. For example, have your viticulturist complete or review responses on farming practices, and a communications colleague address questions pertaining to community relations and stakeholder communications. This way, your application is more likely to be comprehensive and encompass more areas of your sustainability efforts.  
  6. Applicants with multiple facilities are encouraged to provide a company-wide perspective in application responses.
  7. Applicants must submit supporting documents / files via DropBox.com, Google Drive or a similar document-sharing platform. 

SELECTION CRITERIA

The judging panel will consider the following criteria when scoring applications:

  • Practices, project(s) and/or initiative(s) that demonstrate outstanding achievement in each of the sustainable practice areas relevant to their award category
  • Major accomplishments and measurable results
  • Practices, project(s) and/or initiative(s) that are innovative and/or unique
  • Clearly articulates why they are deserving of the award and what sets them apart from others
  • Certified to a third-party sustainable winegrowing certification program receives bonus points
  • Provides compelling supporting documentation (see full list of examples on application)
  • Promotes public awareness of the merits of using sustainability practices through far-reaching platforms
  • Demonstrates Excellence in Award Category:
    – Environment Award: Demonstrates maximized environmental benefit
    – Community Award: Enhances relations with employees, neighbors and/or communitie
    – Business Award: Demonstrates efficiencies and cost savings
    – Leader Award: Balances multiple objectives of environmental, economic and social goals and sustainability is clearly integrated into the overall business.

To see the points assigned to each criteria, download the judging panel scorecard.

DOWNLOAD THE JUDGING PANEL SCORECARD

JUDGING PANEL FOR 2023 AWARDS

  • Allison Jordan, Executive Director, California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance
  • Anna Brittain, Executive Director, Napa Green
  • Beth Vukmanic, Executive Director, Vineyard Team
  • Cyril Penn, Editor in Chief, Wine Business Monthly
  • Evan Goldstein, MS, President, Full Circle Wine Solutions and Master the World
  • Jennifer Richards, VP of Operations and Business Development, Sonoma County Winegrowers
  • Karen Block, PhD, Director of Industry Relations, UC Davis Viticulture and Enology
  • Natalie Wymer, VP of Communications and Member Relations, Wine Institute
  • Stephanie Bolton, PhD, Research and Education Director, Lodi Winegrape Commission
APPLY HERE

Email us with any questions you have!