Eagles Nest Vineyards & Winery practices sustainable farming techniques to help protect the land. The Grimes' are aware that producing memorable wines of outstanding quality, one must start in the vineyards and produce quality grapes - you cannot focus solely on winemaking. Eagles nest is committed to producing quality wines with minimal impact on the environment by pursuing sustainable farming techniques from vineyard to bottle.

Our sustainable farming techniques at Eagles Nest Vineyards & Winery, include the recycling of organic matter for use as mulch in the vineyards, using organic fertilizers and soil amendments to add desirable nutrients back to the soil, avoid use of pesticides and herbicides to avoid injury to beneficial insects and birds. We weed by hand which in labor intensive but eliminates the need to use herbicides to control weed growth that robs vines of moisture and competes for soil nutrients.

Honey Bees
At Eagles Nest Vineyards & Winery, we have nesting honey bees in our 100+ year old oak trees. Eagles Nest estate honey bees pollinate the herbs, flowers and trees on the Grimes' properties, which in turn helps ensure a healthy landscape year after year.

Red Tailed Hawks
At Eagles Nest Winery & Vineyards, you will often see the famous Red Tailed Hawk. On late mornings and afternoons, you can hear the serene raptor's call, and see these hawks flying with a few hundred feet of your location. The hawks here at Eagles Nest Winery have nesting perches in our 100+ year old California live oak trees. We ask our visitors and guests to give our Red Tailed Hawks their privacy and avoid the areas where they nest. Eagles Nest Vineyard & Winery is fortunate to have Hawks patrolling our hillside vineyards.

Owls
Here at Eagles Nest Vineyard & Winery, we believe in attracting desirable owls and bird species to patrol the vineyards to decrease the amount of gophers and other rodents that can pose problems in the winegrape vineyards. We currently have at least one resident Barn Owl that can be heard in the evenings and very early mornings , nesting in the oaks near our giant boulder formations. Eagles Nest Vineyard & Winery is planning on installing additional owl boxes to attract additional owls to our vineyards in other areas of the Ramona Valley.

Water Conservation
Eagles Nest Vineyard & Winery is actively participating in water conservation and energy consumption. One means by which Eagles Nest Winery is making an impact in water conservation is through precisely timed and placed drip irrigation emitters in our hillside vineyards. This not only conserves water and energy, but is actually beneficial for the vines, producing grape clusters comprised of tiny berries with intense concentration of fruit flavors. We also employ photovoltaic solar arrays on the property to provide clean power to our operations and benefit the surrounding power grid.

Carefully selected trellising systems and a grapevine canopy management program combined with precision irrigation ensures water and energy savings. In Eagles Nest Vineyard & Winery has decreased irrigation hours resulting in a 30% decrease water usage, addition we irrigate in early dawn hours to to minimize water loss through evaporation.

Natural Crop Nutrition
Eagles Nest Vineyard & Winery ensures natural crop nutrition by recycling organic matter, such as discarded and collected grape pomace (grape skins) and stems, for use as mulch in the vineyards. These practices have many benefits: use of mulch in the vineyard restores soil nutrients and encourages rich, moist and long lasting soil conditions; the integration of desirable plants throughout the vineyards attract advantageous insects which helps to naturally resist pest and disease attacks from undesirable species.

Eagles Nest Vineyards and Winery will continue to preserve, restore and enhance Ramona Valley's rich, agricultural lands by being leaders in sustainable farming practices for future generations.

Eagles Nest Winery & Cottage is a member of the:

San Diego County Vintner's Association http://www.sandiegowineries.org/wineries/eagles-nest.html

San Diego Wine Countryhttp://www.sandiegowinecountry.com/Wineries/EaglesNestWinery/eaglesNestWinery.htm