Environmental Advocate of the Year

Craig Camp

Troon Vineyard | Grants Pass, OR

In 2016, Craig Camp left his job in the Napa Valley and moved north to Oregon’s Applegate Valley, a quiet area near the California border. Under the Regenerative Organic Alliance’s mantra “farm like the world depends on it,” Camp cares for cider apples, hay fields, honey bees, sheep, chickens, dogs, and grape vines. Camp and the Troon Vineyard team are reviving old, overworked vineyards to make an example out of what responsible agriculture can produce, work that has earned Troon the title of the world’s only Demeter Biodynamic and Regenerative Organic Certified Gold winery. Camp’s deep commitment to fighting climate change extends to advocacy—he’s a member of the board of directors at the Biodynamic Demeter Alliance.”

— The Wine Enthusiast

The Wine Enthusiast Wine Star Awards 2025 - click here for the complete list of nominees

by Craig Camp

I could not be more honored to be nominated for the new Wine Enthusiast Wine Star Environmental Advocate of the Year Award. It is a privilege to be mentioned alongside a list of such exceptional advocates for our planet and the generations that will follow us. 

Our story at Troon Vineyard & Farm is a unique confluence of place, time, and people that have a shared vision. Each member of the team shares an equal commitment to quality and the health of the Earth, believing these concepts are inseparable. 

The work at Troon Vineyard & Farm is driven by our team’s dedication to both the quality of the wines we make and the produce we grow, but also to our commitment to make the Earth a better place for the generations that follow us. Just as we have planted vines that will grow grapes that will be made into wines by people we will never meet, we want our work to preserve the climate that enables them to make great wines that will allow our grandchildren and their grandchildren to enjoy them. 

I applaud The Wine Enthusiast for introducing the Environmental Advocate of the Year to their prestigious Wine Star Awards. This will build international awareness of how essential it is to work in harmony with the Earth to produce meaningful wines that add to our quality of life not only at our dinner table, but to all life on our planet.

While I am more than honored by The Wine Enthusiast nominating me as a Wine Star Environmental Advocate of the Year, I must honestly share this nomination with our exceptional team. Our winemakers, Nate Wall and Micah Wagner, have a deep belief in minimalist winemaking that expresses the character of our vineyard. Our farmers, Garett Long, Jennifer Teisl, and viticulturist Jason Cole nurture everything growing on our farm to maximize flavors and nutrition. Owners Dr. Bryan and Denise White have made the investments that have fueled all that has been accomplished at Troon. Biodynamic consultant Andrew Beedy has guided us from the beginning. In our tasting rooms, Meg Ordaz, Allison Thomas, and Jen Wahlstrom and their teams convey our vision to our guests, while Nate Winters hits the road to tell our story across the country. The essence of Biodynamic agriculture is the concept of the whole farm as an interwoven organism. Our farm is made whole by this extraordinary team.

Our certifications provide an important foundation for our work. We are proud to have achieved both Demeter Biodynamic® and Regenerative Organic Gold® certifications, and we are the only winery in the world to currently hold both. These certifications communicate to consumers who share our values that we are farming with them in mind. Hopefully, they will also convince other farms that is worthwhile to follow this path.

Dedication to the environment and quality are one and the same. The strategies that create wines with the most distinct personalities are the same that save our planet. All living things evolved under the influence of natural selection. These natural systems created the abundance of life that covers the Earth. In the last century, humans decided we knew better. We need to lose that arrogance. 

The so-called Green Revolution created an explosion of quantity and an implosion of quality – more calories, but less nutrition. We need a new green revolution that can still produce quantity while returning both flavor and nutrition to our foods. We cannot continue to separate quality and quantity. 

We are proud of what we have achieved on our one hundred acres, but it is not enough to change the world. We want to show that you can not only survive but also thrive by farming for the planet. With no margin, there is no mission. We strive to achieve both. 

Farm like the world depends on it, because it does.