page_title: Cline Cellars
section_title: Vineyards and farming practices
hierarchical_section_title: Cline Cellars / Vineyards and farming practices
caption_attribution_description: California vineyard in Sonoma County.
context_page_description: Cline Cellars Winery is a family owned and operated winery located in the Carneros wine appellation of Sonoma County, California that specializes in Zinfandels and French Rhône-style wines.
context_section_description: Cline Cellars is best known for production of their "ancient vines" wines out of Contra Costa County.  The head winemaker is Charlie Tsegeletos, who joined the operation in 2000. The Cline's historic Oakley vineyards are planted with Mourvèdre, Carignane, Grenache, Palomino and Zinfandel. The vines range in age from 80-120 years old. Approximately 42 acres of Carignane and Zinfandel vines were planted in 1906 and 1925, and 14 acres of Mourvèdre vines date back to 1920.
  The sand soil of Contra Costa County is naturally resistant to phylloxera. The vineyards in Contra Costa County are all on their original rootstock, and the vine-eating aphid never affected newer plantings.
  The winery is dedicated to sustainability and their farming processes reflect this dedication. Cline Cellars is Certified California Sustainable in the vineyard and in the winery as well as Sonoma County Certified Sustainable. It became the second largest winery in California that is completely solar powered when it installed 34,625 square feet of solar panels. Cline calls his farming practices Green String certified for his use of natural cover crops to nourish soils, practice of using sheep to eliminate weeds in the vineyards, and use of compost teas for fertilizer instead of petroleum based equivalents.
caption: A vineyard owned by Cline Cellars in Sonoma County.
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