illustration: Danielle Grinberg In 1998, California’s Napa Valley was grappling with an unpleasant reality. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Napa River was impaired by so much sediment and pesticides, the salmon and trout were dying. In response, Napa Valley Vintners, a nonprofit trade organization of area wine producers, banded together to implement standards and guidelines to protect the local ecosystem — establishing a fish-friendly program to eliminate harmful pesticides, manage erosion, and restore the rivers back to their previous health. It wasn’t enough. At the same time, a growing body of science surrounding climate change made it clear that unless changes were made sooner than later, the wine industry could be facing a future in which no one could grow grapes at all. In a place like Napa Valley, where 90 percent of the wineries are family-owned, this was an especially devastating possibility. Generations of hard work and tradition were at risk of being lost. Something had to be done. The Napa Valley Vintners may not have been able to change the rest of the world, but they did have the power to alter their own practices.