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About

LIVE was formed in 1997 by a small group of visionary winegrowers in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. In 1999 they incorporated their fledgeling organization as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization and soon after achieved a prestigious accreditation from the European chapter of the IOBC. LIVE has been certifying vineyards in Oregon since then, followed by Washington growers in 2006, and Idaho in 2012. In 2008 LIVE developed a first-in-class winery certification program. Today, LIVE certification is available to vineyards and wineries throughout the Pacific Northwest of the US and is partnered with numerous other certifications and NGO's around the world whose goal is a more sustainable future in wine.

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A Growing Movement

We measure and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. We use regenerative farming practices like planting cover crops to sequester atmospheric carbon in our soils. We protect and restore oak habitat and reduce our impacts on rivers and streams. We recognize that this is the greatest challenge of our time and are working to meet it.

All LIVE members are required to maintain ecologically rich ares on our farms. These include swaths of wildflower meadows, dense rich hedgerows, forested stands of trees, and protected riversides. We have a responsibility to connect our agriculture to lands that support a flourishing ecosystem of flora and fauna.

Farm and winery crews are the foundation of our industry, Our businesses provide healthcare, safe and healthy working conditions, and fair wages for our teams in the field. It is our goal to build real equity within our wine growing community.

Soil is alive! It is teeming with microorganisms and webbed with fungi. We farm to keep it that way, through healthy compost and biochar applications, nitrogen-fixing cover crops, and mycorrhizal inoculation. All of this life nourishes our vines and reflects itself in the terror of the wines you love.

We implement land management practices that reduce a century’s old reliance on harsh chemicals. By integrating beneficial insects and bird habitats, using grazing animals to control weeds, and enabling wildlife’s free passage across our farms, we reduce the need for pesticides and restore healthy ecosystem functioning. 

As LIVE members, many of us dry farm our wine grapes without irrigation, use gravity flow systems to clarify our wines, and rely on solar energy and biodiesel to power our operations. The wine industries of the Pacific Northwest are proud to lead the way in minimizing the raw materials we use to produce some the finest wines in the world.

Let’s Get Certified — Join the LIVE Community

Who We Are

Meet the Board

Ponzi Vineyards

LIVE certification creates a brand position that most other wine regions simply don't have. To be able to say your winery and vineyards have achieved the highest certification in the world for sustainable viticulture, now that's pretty powerful.

Maria Ponzi

Learn

We have developed multiple platforms to share technical training and thought-provoking perspectives on issues related to sustainability with our members. Listen in on advice for sustainable wine distribution, enroll in an online course to learn how to increase your vineyard biodiversity, or watch a video about our little pollinators and their benefits.

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Recent News

Growing Oaks Update

Join us in our goal to collect 100,000 acorns to plant 10,000 Oregon White Oaks back into the Willamette Valley. Our Growing Oaks initiative with Willamette University continues and we’re looking for

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Join Us! Birds & Bees: A LIVE & Bee Friendly Farming Field Day

A LIVE and Bee Friendly Wine Field Day at Willamette Valley Valley Vineyards with discussion leaders from Cascades Raptor Center and the USDA Agricultural Research Center

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2023 LIVE Annual Meeting Resources

Our 2023 Annual Meeting was held on March 30th, 2023 at the Chehelam Cultural Center in Newburg, OR. Here are a few resources and presentation recordings from the event:

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2022 Annual Meeting Minutes

Download the minutes from the 2022 LIVE Annual Meeting.

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Oak Hubs

This spring, LIVE partnered with a group of environmental science students from Willamette University to distribute oak saplings to our members. Their group, called Growing Oaks , was formed to

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