Brit� Honors Parducci Wine Cellars Of Mendocino County As Greenest Winegrower - Managing Partner Tim Thornhill Accepts Award Of Excellence

On Saturday, Oct. 8, three hundred members and guests at BRIT's annual fundraiser, F�te du Vin Wine Dinner and Auction toasted Parducci Wine Cellars, the winner of the 2011 International Award of Excellence for Sustainable Winegrowing, in fitting fashion, raising glasses of the winemaker's sustainably grown Petite Sirah, True Grit, in a special salute.

Accepting the annual award on Parducci's behalf was Texas-native and Managing Partner Tim Thornhill, a nationally recognized arborist, horticulturist, environmentalist and leader in the sustainable wine-growing movement.

"Tim Thornhill and Parducci Wine Cellars are prestigious ambassadors for the sustainability movement," said Dwight H. Cumming, President, The Cumming Company, Inc. and Chairman of BRIT's F�te du Vin Wine Dinner and Auction, who presented the award to Thornhill. "Parducci's focus on nurturing local, environmentally friendly operations and developing new, greener winemaking methods is an example for the industry."

Under Thornhill's direction, Parducci Wine Cellars became the first vineyard in the United States to be certified carbon neutral. Parducci follows a strict sustainability standard of certified winegrowing practices including using 100 percent green power and recycling 100 percent of its waste water. BRIT judged Parducci and other award applicants on 18 separate sustainability measures. Parducci's True Grit petite sirah is one of several organic and sustainable wines produced by the vineyard.

Editors Notes:
Founded in 1932 and bonded in 1933, Parducci Wine Cellars is the oldest winery in Mendocino County. The families of Paul Dolan, Tim Thornhill, Tom Thornhill and Tommy
Thornhill purchased the property in 2004.



About the Botanical Research Institute of Texas
Founded in 1987, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT�) based in Fort Worth, Texas is an international, scientific research and learning center focused on conservation, knowledge sharing and studying the diversity of plant life. BRIT conducts extensive global research, including major projects in Texas, Europe, Peru, and the Pacific Islands. In the last 10 years, BRIT scientists have located and described scores of species previously unknown to science. BRIT's herbarium is among the largest in the United States and is the largest U.S. herbarium not part of a university, botanical garden, or broader natural history museum. In the spring of 2011, BRIT moved into its new, US Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum-certified headquarters located in the Fort Worth Cultural District. For more information, visit http://www.brit.org.