2025 Oregon Wine Symposium | Regenerative Organic Certification: Cultivating Ecosystem Vitality

Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC) represents a revolutionary approach to agricultural management that goes far beyond traditional organic farming. In the context of viticulture, ROC is not just a certification—it’s a comprehensive ecosystem restoration strategy that addresses soil health, biodiversity, environmental sustainability, worker well-being and social fairness simultaneously. Learn from peers why ROC is transforming their businesses and the way this farming system can improve grape quality and your bottom line. This seminar represents a critical opportunity to understand the future of sustainable vineyard management and the transformative potential of Regenerative Organic Certification.

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Leigh Bartholomew, Director of Viticulture, Results Partners
Leigh Bartholomew attended the University of Oregon, then University of California, Davis, where she earned her master’s degree in viticulture. She has worked in wine regions around the world, meeting a host of people from a variety of cultures along the way. She gained experience at such respected properties as Domaine Denis Mortet in Gevrey Chambertin; Seresin Estate in Marlborough, New Zealand; Robert Mondavi Winery in California; Cain Vineyard and Winery in California; Caliterra/Viña Errázuriz in Chile; and Andrew Will Winery in Washington. Leigh joined Results Partners vineyard management company in 2014 as the director of viticulture after working 14 vintages for a local estate vineyard and winery. Leigh and her winemaker husband, Patrick Reuter, co-own Dominio IV Winery in McMinnville.

Craig Camp, General Manager, Troon Vineyard
Craig Camp is a veteran fine wine professional with more than three decades of experience in every facet of the industry, including importing, exporting, distribution, marketing, sales, viticulture, and fine wine production. He has extensive hands-on experience in wineries in Italy, Napa Valley, the Willamette Valley, and now the Applegate Valley.

Camp is an industry leader and has been recognized for his work by The New York Times, Washington Post, Food and Wine Magazine and Saveur Magazine. He was named one of “Wine’s Most Inspiring People of 2020” by the Wine Industry Network. He is president of the National Board of Directors of the Rhône Rangers and on the executive committee, and a board member of the Oregon Winegrowers Association. He is past president of the Applegate Valley Vintners Association and is a member of the board of directors of the Rogue Valley Vintners Association and the Oregon Winegrowers Association.
He came to the Applegate Valley to work in a region on the cutting edge of fine winemaking and is passionate about biodynamic winegrowing and winemaking in Oregon.

Pamela Turner, Co-Owner, Ambar Estate
Pam is the Co-Owner of Ambar Estate and a Director at Vinovate Custom Wine Services. A former public health professional and the author of science, nature, and history books for young readers, she comes from a long line of farmers on both sides of her family. Her grandparents grew cotton in Texas but were forced off their land in the 1930s by the Dust Bowl–a disaster caused by poor agricultural practices that left the soil vulnerable to windstorms. Pam is particularly interested in regenerative organic farming and native plant restoration at both Ambar and Vinovate.

Garett Long, Director of Agriculture, Troon Vineyard
Garett is a farmer and soil scientist who believes healing the planet is in parallel with healing the human spirit. He spent five formative years practicing biodynamic agriculture at Apricot Lane Farms (see: “The Biggest Little Farm” documentary) before leaving to pursue his M.S. in Soils & Biogeochemistry from the University of California-Davis. He co-founded Soil Life Services, which supports producers in monitoring and evaluating the impacts of agricultural management on soil carbon and other metrics of soil health. He was also the Board Treasurer for the Josephine Porter Institute (2019-22). Since 2021, he has served as the Director of Agriculture at Troon Vineyard, Oregon’s only Biodynamic and Regenerative Organic Certified farm.

Elizabeth Whitlow, Founding Executive Director, Regenerative Organic Alliance
Elizabeth Whitlow served as the founding Executive Director of the Regenerative Organic Alliance, leading a transformative movement to drive necessary changes to our agricultural system through the Regenerative Organic Certified® standard: an innovative benchmark for food, fiber, and wellness ingredients grounded in the pillars of soil health, animal welfare, and social fairness. With a master’s degree in environmental studies focused in agroecology, Elizabeth began her career as an advocate for coffee growers in Central America. This work sparked a twenty+ year journey examining systemic agricultural policies and championing programs that reward holistic farmers. Elizabeth has been recognized on Wine Enthusiast’s Future 40 list for her impactful work at the intersection of our health, farming, and the climate crisis. Elizabeth has been a guest speaker at TedX, SXSW, the Nest Summit, Change Now, LVMH’s World Living Soil Forum, and all around the globe over the last five years. She continues to speak globally on the critical role of regenerative organic farming in mitigating climate change and fostering social equity in agriculture. In just six years, Elizabeth and her team built the Regenerative Organic Certified® program from its inception to over 18 million acres spanning six continents. In the 60 seconds it may have taken to read this bio, the earth has lost the equivalent of 30 soccer fields of soil; and so her greatest honor is to serve a planet that is in tremendous need of our collective effort. Elizabeth currently resides in Northern California with her family, growing both food and community.

Samantha Cole-Johnson (moderator), Senior Editor US, JancisRobinson.com
Samantha Cole-Johnson is the Senior Editor US for JancisRobinson.com where she reviews US wines and hosts the site’s weekly ‘Wine News in 5’ podcast. She is the Oregon contributor for The Oxford Companion to Wine and Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book. When she is not writing she can be found teaching WSET 3 and Diploma at The Wine & Spirit Archive in Portland, Oregon. You can be find her on socials @samanthacolejohnson.