At its core, the program is rooted in inclusivity, welcoming farmers and landowners of all backgrounds and philosophies. That spirit of openness is the only real path to change. Farmers are a fiercely independent sort and don’t want to be told what to do. RVF and 1BC help open minds and change paradigms with a notable absence of judgment, only a willingness to educate and show others the power of community, nature, and, as the great Paul Dolan often said, ‘what it feels like to farm in service of life’.
Jordan Lonborg, Regenerative Viticulture Consultant and former viticulturist at Tablas Creek
Update July 2025
January 2025: The 1BC got off to a flying start with RVF Trustee Caine Thompson launching the pilot in Paso Robles at the end of January.
May: Caine presented the One Block Challenge™ at Napa RISE. Shortly after this speech there was a flurry of regions interested in having their own challenges. We are really excited to get them all underway as soon as possible.
June: Caine then travelled to South Africa with RVF Development Director Anne Jones and Victoria Mason of the Wine Society to participate in a workshop with SA Wines and VinPro and announce the launch of the RVF One Block Challenge™ in South Africa. Here they are with Wilhelm of Hartenberg Wine Estate, who very generously hosted them and shared his excellent regen practices.
New RVF Technical Advisor for Aotearoa New Zealand Nick Gill announced the launch of the 1BC in NZ at the Organic & Biodynamic Winegrowing Conference. The first workshop is taking place on Wednesday 30th July at Greystones in Waipara. There’s so much interest we’ve even heard of people liftsharing 9 hours from Central Otago to be there!
If you are interested in finding out more about the 1BC and how it might be adapted to your region, please fill out this form or contact us on info@regenerativeviticulture.org. Note that there has been so much interest we will need to prioritise regions that can provide some resources to support the 1BC. This is because we are funded entirely by philanthropic donation.
What is the One Block Challenge™?
The RVF’s One Block Challenge™ (1BC) is an exciting new initiative for 2025, aimed at de-risking the transition to regenerative viticulture. The idea is to enable growers to try out regenerative practices in a secure way, without ‘betting the farm’ on the outcome.
A pilot project was launched in January 2025 in Paso Robles, California, with 46 vineyards so far having committed blocks to the one-year challenge.
You can read all about it in the April/May 2025 issue of The Somm Journal (pages 58-61) and in Wine Business Monthly
Photo credit: Robert Hall Winery
The concept is simple
1. Bring together a group of neighbouring farmers who are interested in trying out some regenerative practices.
2. Each grower chooses a block or parcel of vines from their vineyard that they would like to dedicate to the challenge for a year. It could perhaps be their worst performing block, as this has the least to lose and the most to gain. If suitable, they can also select a control block for comparison (but this is not essential).
3. They perform some simple free methods of assessing their soil health in their block (photos below from Cass Winery, Paso Robles). This includes:
- penetrometer test
- water infiltration test
- earthworm count
- soil macrobiodiversity count
4. They choose several regenerative practices from a ‘menu’ that has been adapted to their region. This could include:
- keeping the soil covered in the alleyways
- stopping herbicide undervine
- adding compost
- sowing cover crops
- bringing in animals
5. A Whatsapp group (or slack channel or similar) enables them to ask each other questions, borrow equipment, set up visits to each others’ vineyards during the year and reach out to the RVF.
6. At the end of the year, the same soil health tests are performed to see what has changed. While there might not be a huge change in one year (as ecosystems take time to rebalance), we hope it will inspire them to continue their regenerative journey, helping restore soils, reduce chemical inputs, increase biodiversity and build resilience to climate change.
The Paso Pilot
The pilot was launched in Paso Robles in January 2025 at Robert Hall Winery by RVF Trustee Caine Thompson. The response has been fantastic with 46 growers signed up, from small boutique vineyards to large wineries. The support of Paso Wine Alliance, the CAB Collective and the pioneering regen producers in Paso has been tremendous.
RVF Trustee Caine Thompson who is co-ordinating the pilot is absolutely evangelical about his own experiences of transitioning the vineyards at Robert Hall Winery: “Through regenerative farming, we’ve seen our vines become healthier, more resilient to climate stress, and significantly more drought-tolerant. The fruit quality has improved noticeably—there’s less dehydration and shrivel, resulting in a purer fruit character that more clearly expresses the terroir of the site, soil, and season, especially when compared to adjacent vines grappling under extreme climate conditions. The One Block Challenge is not intended to lead to certification, but rather explore the attributes of this farming technique over the next year.”
South Africa
We announced the launch of the 1BC™ in South Africa in June 2025 at a Regenerative Viticulture Workshop with VinPro, GenZ and Nemlabs. The response was tremendous, with the workshop selling out within 2 days.
Our visit to South Africa was a real eye-opener. There are clearly a lot of excellent regenerative practices being implemented and potential for the region to be world leading. There is also plenty of potential for conventional growers to be supported to start their 1BC™ trials. It’s a very exciting time for regen in SA!
If you would like to here more information, please complete this form.
Further details will be announced soon.
Aotearoa New Zealand
RVF Technical Advisor Nick Gill trailed the 1BC at Underground Festival in February and then launched it at the Organic and Biodynamic Winegrowing Conference in June. The first event will be a workshop at Greystones Vineyard on Wednesday 30th July. Nick will be sharing his plans for the 1BC and planning next steps.
This is a brilliant opportunity to be involved right from the start. If you are brand new to the idea of regen practices, the 1BC can help support you in taking your first steps, in a way that doesn’t risk the farm. If you’re a seasoned practitioner, you can help make the 1BC in NZ a success.
Lunch will be provided from Nick’s place https://www.thefoodfarm.nz/
Please email nick@thefoodfarm.nz for a place, including any dietaries for lunch.
Could your wine region be next?
We are using the learnings from the Paso Pilot to finetune the 1BC™ model so that it can be adapted to individual wine regions’ contexts, ready to be be rolled out to other wine regions.
Some regions are already in the pipeline for rolling out this really exciting initiative – it could make a huge difference globally to accelerating the uptake of regen farming in vineyards!
If you are interested in finding out more about the 1BC™ and how it might be adapted to your region, please fill out this form or contact us on info@regenerativeviticulture.org. Also please contact us if you would like to help co-ordinate a 1BC™ in your region.
Note that there has been so much interest we will need to prioritise regions that can provide some resources to support the 1BC. This is because we are funded entirely by philanthropic donation. If you are able to support us financially please do let us know. Together we can make a difference.
Do you want to go it alone?
While we think the One Block Challenge™ is brilliant, we also think you should just get started!
So, if there isn’t a 1BC™ close to you (yet) contact us. We have plenty of resources to help you make your first step (or your next step) on your regenerative journey.