RUTHERFORD, Calif. — As the head of an association of winemakers in southern Ukraine, Georgiy Molchanov understands a lot about how to cultivate grapes; not so much how to grow them amidst undetonated mines.
But that was the scenario he discovered himself in after a Russian rocket dropped the dynamites on his vineyard near the port city of Mykolaiv in August 2022, 6 months after Russia gotteninto. The damage — and risk — the mines brought to his service significant one of the myriad devastating results the more than 2-year-old war has had on the eastern European nation.
Now, thanks to the integrated efforts of the global not-for-profit company Roots of Peace, Rotary International, and the Grgich Hills Estate winery in Napa Valley, Molchanov is taking the actions he requires to recover and recover his injured land.
First, Roots of Peace and Rotary International supplied him with the competence and materials he required to securely detonate the mines. Then, the groups teamed up to bring him and 5 other Ukrainian winemakers to Grgich Hills in Rutherford. During a weeklong stay here, they discovered about regenerative natural farming, an farming approach that focuseson soil health and environment balance.
“We are goingover how to bring nature, how to bring redwines, not damage … into this land,” stated Molchanov, who heads the Association of Craft Winemakers