Green steps up as ag's best friend
Article by By Stephanie Swanburg - Journal Staff Writer - www.auburnjournal.com

ike the wines that come from his small vineyard, Charlie Green has made an impact on the local agricultural community that seems too large for one man. Although the Green Family Winery has only been growing grapes since 1991 - winemaking didn't even enter the picture until 2000 - Green was busy making his mark among other agriculturists. He co-founded the Placer County Wine and Grape Association, helms the Gold Country Fair's Home Wine Tasting event and dreamt up the Auburn Wine Festival.

"He is one of the driving forces," said Joanne Neft, director of the Placer County Agriculture Marketing program. "He's the kind of guy that, when the job needs to be done, Charlie steps right up to the plate and does it."

But ask Green why he will be named Friend of Agriculture 2004 at the Auburn State of the Community Dinner April 30 and he will simply shrug, mystified. An Ohio native and Navy veteran with a blue ship tattooed on his left forearm, Green seems an unlikely winemaker. His agricultural history in Auburn shows a similar sentiment - originally, cattle ambled over his hilly three-acre vineyard.

"I like the wine," he said Thursday, surveying his property. "I like the end result. Grapes are nice enough - I don't come out here and talk to them or anything. Cows were just a pain from the word go."

Specializing in Syrah and Barbera wines the owner calls "sophisticated", the Green Family Winery motto is "If it ain't red, it ain't wine." The small winery only churns out about 600 cases - 7,200 bottles - each year. Community members can look for the diagonal "Green Family" label at Carpe Vino in Auburn, Carrington Fine Wines in Nevada City, and online at www.greenfamilywinery.com.

"When I first started I talked to a lot of winemakers and they all told me the same thing," he said. "Making wine is the easy part. The hard part is selling it."

But the small winery does alright, and Green is happy with its current size. Someday he hopes to expand production by 400 cases to hit 1,000, but that's as big as he'd like to see it.

"The nice thing about having wine as a crop is that there's not this constant pressure to sell it now, like there is with fresh vegetables," he said.

Many local wine connoisseurs would agree that the end result of Green's business is nice. Gary Moffatt, owner of Carpe Vino in Old Town Auburn, said the Friend of Agriculture award is deserved.

"Whenever anything happens that has to do with wine, Charlie's there," he said. "He's always the first one to participate in anything. He works hard and makes some real nice wines. He's an asset."