DrinkTheEarth.com Blog

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Sorry for the lag in adding any new blog content recently.  We’ve been busy with a site redesign project (coming soon), making Twitter a faster and more attractive option for getting out quick news bursts.  We’ll be conducting some new tastings and publishing fresh blog content soon.

In the meantime, we are in the process of building out our Facebook Fan Page.  If you haven’t already, become a ‘fan’ of DrinkTheEarth.com and join our growing community!  If you are an organic winery, brewer, distiller, or just an organic beverage aficionado, do you have photos that you’d like to share?  We’re especially looking for pictures that can help educate consumers on what organic beverages are all about (e.g. farming, production process).  If you have any and are interested in making them available via our Facebook page, please contact us through the site.  We respect intellectual property, so all photos will be credited to the rightful owner.

We are currently planning a tasting trip to the PDX/Northern Oregon/Willamette Valley region in early July, most likely arriving on July 4th.  Are you a producer of organic/biodynamic wines, beers, or spirits?  We’d love to visit you.  Not a producer, but have some great suggestions on places we need to go?  We’d love to hear from you too.  Drop us a note with your thoughts or ideas today.

In our last post, we talked about the sustainability efforts many wineries have undertaken who are otherwise not ‘certified’ organic.  A lot of non-certified wineries we’ve spoken to are either slowly moving towards eco-friendly farming practices, like pulling back on chemicals used in the vineyard, or are taking steps to become more energy efficient in other aspects of the business, such as using solar power.  We recently interviewed Dan Del Grande of Bison Brewing Company (article to appear on the site soon as our next Eco Chat), who made an interesting comparison between the wine and beer markets. 

Dan said that brewers can learn a lot from their wine brethren, many of whom are pursuing sustainability for what he considers the right reasons; to protect the environment, be carbon-neutral (or at least get closer to carbon neutrality), and perhaps most importantly, because they think it’s best for the consumer.  From his perspective, some beer makers who are either brewing organically or are considering it see organics as simply a market niche; they aren’t as sold on whether it is best for the end customer.  Whether it’s because organic wine has received more publicity or the winemakers simply view their businesses differently, many of them have already made that leap.  Assuming he’s right, it will be interesting to see if the relatively nascent organic spirits market follows a similar evolution.

As noted in this space on many occasions, numerous wineries are taking steps to embrace sustainability efforts in all aspects of the business.  While this is obviously not one in the same with pursuing organic certification for their wines, it certainly is indicative of a growing desire within the winemaking trade to be leaders in environmental stewardship. 

We recently reported on the efforts of Sonoma’s Gundlach Bundschu, who has made significant investments in solar energy and other initiatives in an effort to become carbon-neutral.  Along those same lines, in announcing its new releases this week, Sebastopol, California’s Merry Edwards Winery dedicated a two-page report not to the virtues of their latest Pinots’ (which are certainly worth the words!), but to the sustainability efforts underway at their facilities.  While Merry Edwards reports to have been using eco-friendly methods such as composting for years, this initiative has spread to other parts of the operation with the construction of a new winery facility.  Their vertical trellis system actually uses stakes derived from recycled car bodies, while the end posts previously served in another life as drill stems in oil wells (as a native Midwesterner, it’s nice to know there may be a little Rust Belt magic in the terroir!).    A solar system now powers a substantial part of all winery electricity needs, and hot water is produced on-demand by energy-efficient heaters.  Their offices are also free of chemical-laden paint, and instead are coated with green certified Tobias Stucco. 

Are there other benefits to wineries for pursuing sustainability efforts than simply knowing their actions are having a more positive impact on our planet?  Absolutely.  A little upfront investment can create efficiencies and cost savings that will pay handsomely over time.  It also doesn’t hurt to have a compelling story to tell when selling a product that is often more likely to be purchased based on romance and perception than more pragmatic considerations.  Whatever the driver, we applaud the efforts underway, and look forward to hearing similar stories from others in the future.

(ABOVE) The gravity flow winemaking process in use at Moshin Vineyards, Healdsburg, California

While it’s important to draw a distinction between wines that are made organically from those that aren’t, it is equally important to recognize sustainability methods that fall outside the actual process of growing grapes.  One such technique that increases the energy-efficiency of the winemaking process, and perhaps the flavor of the wine itself, is gravity flow winemaking.  Gravity flow involves the grapes starting at a certain height and working their way down through the wine production process, rather than be put through the stress of pumping or pushing.   First popularized in Europe over the course of many centuries, it is especially relevant to making wine from very delicate grapes such as Pinot Noir, which thrives in France’s famed Burgundy region, as well as in many parts of California and Oregon.  It has only recently begun to make a comeback here in the U.S., in part because of the upfront expenses involved.

One U.S. winery that is using gravity flow to make wine that we’ve visited is Healdsburg, California’s Moshin Vineyards.  While not organic, the winery believes in following sustainability practices and optimizing energy efficiency, as also evidenced by their use of solar power on the winery grounds.  Owner and winemaker Rick Moshin counts George Davis, of biodynamic producer Porter Creek Vineyards, as one of his mentors.  Moshin utilizes a four-tier gravity flow process in which the grapes are sorted and de-stemmed on a crush pad, before dropping below into fermentation tanks.  Pressed wine then drains from the fermentation tanks into barrels for aging in the cellar, before eventually making its way to the fourth and final stage, the bottling level. 

During our November, 2008 visit to Sonoma County we briefly met Rick in the Moshin Vineyards tasting room, who on Thanksgiving Day was busy happily greeting visitors and signing bottles for patrons (including a bottle of the 2006 Molinari Vineyard Pinot Noir for us).  If you’re in the Healdsburg area and curious to see a modern-day gravity flow process in action, we highly recommend a stop here.

Cooper Mountain's 'We Love Dirt' Promotion

In celebration of soil preservation through biodynamic and organic farming, Oregon’s Cooper Mountain Vineyards will be featuring a special tasting and promotion over the Valentine’s Day holiday on February 14th & 15th.  Visitors to their Beaverton tasting room can enjoy special tasting flights featuring strawberries drizzled in Cooper Mountain balsamic vinegar.  For $25, you can purchase their ‘We Love Dirt Package’, which features two flights of both red & white wines, along with two logo wine glasses.

No word on whether the worms or manure-filled cow horns will cost extra.  Either way, we appreciate a clever marketing campaign when we see one.  If you’re in the Portland area, sounds like a lot of fun to us.

Organic farming sign outside the entrance to Michel-Schlumberger Wine Estate

The past few trips we’ve made to Sonoma have been filled out with, for the most part, drop-in tastings or spur-of-the-moment visits on the way to specific destinations.  This year we decided to focus almost exclusively on appointments to get a slightly different perspective of the wineries we wanted to visit, especially since many of them were on the small side, offering a more personal experience than your average tasting room visit might.  That’s exactly what we got at Michel-Schlumberger Wine Estate, located on the western hills of the Dry Creek Valley in Healdsburg.

Michel-Schlumberger is certified organic, and uses many of the principals of biodynamic farming.  The grounds include many interesting sights, such as a vineyard tractor that runs on bio-diesel, birdhouses and perches that attract raptors to help control vineyards pests, and a special breed of miniature sheep that help to “mow” the cover crop around the vines.

The hospitality center is located in a beautiful Spanish-influenced building, situated around a courtyard full of lush plants and a reflecting pool, and seems much more like a private residence than public attraction.    If I remember correctly, at one time, the tasting center actually was home to a former owner, and it hasn’t lost its warm appeal.  On this occasion, we opted for the wine and cheese pairing at $25 per person (of which half of the proceeds go to the Healdsburg Education Foundation).  However, many different options are available for a visit to the winery, including a green tour & hillside tasting, a vertical tasting of reserve cabernets, or even the chance to create your own custom tour with advance notice.  In all cases, reservations are required.

Our tasting of four wines and four cheeses (ordered especially for the pairing from the world-famous Cheese Shop in downtown Healdsburg) was especially fun because of the presence of another couple who had also reserved a tasting at that time.  In our company was Erin McGrath, herself a wine blogger  for Vintwined, along with her fiancé Russ.  In addition to a shared interest in writing about wine, we also shared many of the same tastes in style and varietals as well.

First on the menu was the 2006 La Brume Chardonnay, paired with a Carmody cheese from Bellwether Farms in Petaluma.  More classically Burgundian in style, there was just enough oak to give it structure without overwhelming the fruit.  The Carmody, a fresh-tasting cheese made from cow’s milk and aged only about six weeks, was a lovely companion to the Chard.

Our second pairing featured the 2005 Pinot Noir, which is the only estate-grown and bottled Pinot in the Dry Creek Valley.  A very food-friendly wine, it was a lovely match to Bellwether Farms’ San Andreas, a delicious sheep’s milk cheese that has some similarities to Manchego. 

The third offering was the 2005 Syrah.  The winemaker choose to blend a very small amount of Viognier into this wine, resulting in a less dense outcome.  This is not a fruit bomb Syrah, nor is the alcohol content so high as to leave you wondering if you’re really drinking a Zin.  This is a pretty wine that would pair well with grilled meat dishes.  In our case, however, we were able to try it with St. George cheese, from Matos Dairy in Santa Rosa.   A full-flavored, rich cheese, we enjoyed the pairing immensely.

To wrap up our visit, our final tasting combined the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, a varietal that Michel-Schlumberger is well-known for, with Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam, a personal favorite of everyone at the table.  The triple-cream cow’s milk cheese created a rich background for the structure of this cab, which should drink beautifully over the next four to five years.

Needless to say, we couldn’t leave without purchasing a bottle (in this case, the Pinot Noir), and taking a walk around the courtyard.  With great wine, lush grounds, and lovely company, our visit to Michel-Schlumberger will always be remembered as one of our favorite Sonoma County experiences.

The city that never sleeps now has an organic watering hole to contribute to its ongoing insomnia.  Last month, Manhattan’s GustOrganics opened a bar inside of its Greenwich Village restaurant, featuring a menu entirely comprised of organic beers, cocktails, wines, and liquors, as well as fresh organic fruit.  Impressively, the bar makes the claim as the first to be certified organic by the USDA.

Taking its commitment a step further, GustOrganics also features a wind turbine on the roof (must be an interesting sight in NYC), and menus made from 100% recycled paper and soy ink.  For those not able to live in the big city, we hope this is a sign of a new nightlife eco-trend to come.

Our Tour Guide, Johnny, lines up a generous tasting of Sauvignon Blanc

If you’ve spent any time at all in the Napa Valley, it’s pretty easy to become jaded by the many mega “trophy” wineries that have sprung up in the last 10 years.  So, even though we knew when we made the tour appointment that Frog’s Leap Winery was supposed to be different, we still weren’t sure what to expect (although, based on the Frog’s Leap’s website, we really should have known better).

Arriving for our tour at the Rutherford, California winery on a cool day with moody, low-lying clouds threatening overhead, we pulled into the gravel parking lot, where the newly-certified LEED Silver hospitality center and administrative office stands just off to the side.  Surrounded by olive trees and gardens, the building, as modern and eco-friendly as it is, still appears to have been built to complement the land, rather than dominate it.  Besides being LEED certified, the center also uses geothermal energy for heating and cooling, and the entire winery is run on photovoltaic energy, a type of solar power.  In fact, according to the Frog’s Leap website, the winery produces so much energy from solar that they are actually able to sell the excess energy produced back to the power company for credit.  In other words, Frog’s Leap is actually an energy provider!

Inside of the hospitality center, visitors are greeted by the aptly-named winery cat, Terra, who has the complicated and surely exhausting job of being petted and cooed over approximately eight hours a day.  The tour then begins in a window-filled room off to the side of the house, at what is really a long dinner table that’s able to seat everyone scheduled on the tour, in this case, a full house of approximately 16. 

Our host for the next hour was Johnny, and we didn’t know it at the time, but we were in for the most fun and least formal tour of any we’d had in Napa.  And, unlike most tours, it’s completely free. 

And have I mentioned the tour also includes tasting?

We started out with generous pours of the 2007 Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc, which was lovely, crisp, and seemingly very food-friendly, and fermented in 100% stainless steel.  After a few minutes of discussion about the wine and the history and philosophy of Frog’s Leap, Johnny grabbed another bottle, we grabbed our glasses, and headed out for the tour. 

Walking out to the wrap-around porch, we headed down into the vineyards.  Pouring us all another tasting, this time a pretty, tart, 2007 Napa Valley Chardonnay loaded with minerality and only the slightest bit of oak for balance (not your typical Napa Chard, for sure),  it was explained to us that Frog’s Leap uses a process called “dry farming” on their 200 acres of certified organic vines.  In their opinion, the benefits to this are two-fold.  The first is that it is believed that deep rooted vines produce grapes, and therefore wines, of greater and more distinct character.  Basically, the vines have to work harder to stay alive.  The second is that it conserves water and promotes healthy soil.  Yet another way that Frog’s Leap is, pardon the pun, greener than the average winery.

With a third pour, the 2006 Napa Valley Zinfandel, in hand, a field blend that doesn’t overpower, we continued our tour, passing the chicken coops and gardens (with Head Gardener, Degge Hays, digging away in the dirt), and headed into the Red Barn, which houses the wine-making facility (and a basketball net-the purpose of which will be explained to us in a few minutes).  We toured the barrel room and the fermentation area, at which time Johnny pulled out yet another bottle (he keeps them “hidden” around the path of the tour, so as to not have to try and carry 4 bottles of wine around for an hour or more).  We were treated to a tasting of the 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a fragrant, intensely flavored wine, as we made our way upstairs to the “party room,” which is often used for staff gatherings, and has a beautiful view of the grounds.  At this point, the official tour was finished, and it was time to mingle with our “tourmates,” ask any questions that we may have about the wines and tour, or just enjoy the atmosphere.

Corralling us back together, we were eventually lead back down the stairs, all of us thinking that the tour was done.  But we were sorely mistaken.  The basketball net and small make-shift cement court lay between us and the door.  Johnny pulled out the ball, and we came to the true end of the tour: a free-throw contest! 

Needless to say, my husband and I did not win (or even make our baskets).  And I now know that wine and basketball do not mix.  Like the saying goes, you learn something new every day, and at Frog’s Leap, I can honestly say, we learned a lot.

Entrance to Robert Sinskey Vineyards, located in Napa, California

Having regrettably never made it to Robert Sinskey Vineyards in previous visits, my wife and I sought out this Napa institution which has been farming organically since 1991, and more recently received its Demeter biodynamic certification.  Our pleasant tasting experience was chaperoned by Susan, who started working for the winery earlier in the year.  Somewhat unique to many of our other winery visits, Sinskey offers an hors d’oeuvres pairing to go along with each wine on their tasting menu.  You can purchase the aptly-named ’Gluttonous Flight’ for $20 ($15 is refunded with a two-bottle purchase), which on this day included four wine and food pairings.  The pairings are heavily influenced by Robert Sinskey’s wife Maria Helm Sinskey, a well-known chef and cookbook author.  Susan explained to us that Sinskey wines are made from nearly 200 acres of vineyards in the Carneros region of Napa, located in the southern part of the county.  Most of their vines are not actually in the immediate area surrounding the majestic tasting room facility, built into a beautiful hillside off Napa’s famed Silverado Trail.

As the tasting menu was dominated by reds on this day, we started our experience  with the 2006 Los Carneros Pinot Noir, which Susan explained was the most widely distributed Sinskey wine made and produced from a blend of grapes farmed across multiple vineyards.  We followed the ‘06 Los Carneros with the 2005 Four Vineyards Pinot Noir, which is aged in French oak.  Perhaps due to being a year older, we preferred the Four Vineyards to the Los Carneros, although both appeared well suited to pair with a good wild salmon steak.  Susan explained that they try and stay away from high alcohol levels, opting for more acidity to pair with food.  Next, we tried the 2005 Los Carneros Merlot, which we found very light and fruity, especially on the nose.  We ended the tasting with the 2005 Marcien, a proprietary red that is aged for 20 months in French oak.  Intrigued by our liking of the two Pinots we tried, we opted to blindly buy a bottle each of 2005 Capa Vineyards Pinot Noir, and the 2005 Vandal Vineyard Pinot Noir, neither of which were being poured in the tasting room that day but were recommended by Susan.

The final day of our trip happened to be Thanksgiving, and following a recent tradition, Healdsburg’s Porter Creek Vineyards was one of only three wineries open for business on that day.  Their modest, rustic tasting room was nearly filled with those getting an early start to the holiday festivities.  Guided by Mike, our tasting room experience started with the 2007 Timbervine Ranch Viognier, one of the few Viogniers we had a chance to taste on this particular trip.  We also tasted their 2006 Estate Pinot Noir against the 2006 Fiona Hill Pinot Noir, the latter of which is named for the 5 1/2 year old daughter of Alex Davis, Porter Creek’s winemaker.  While we liked both, we slightly preferred the Fiona Hill.  While teasing us by pouring an otherwise unavailable 2004 Zinfandel, we asked Mike about the vineyards located out the back window of the tasting room.  He explained that they in fact belonged to the massive E&J Gallo Winery, and were not part of their estate.  Since Porter Creek is certified biodynamic and Gallo does not practice organic farming methods, Gallo is required to maintain at least a small separation between their vines and those of Porter Creek.  Mike also explained that Gallo is not permitted to spray pesticides or other chemicals when the wind speed is above a certain threshold, a situation Porter Creek understandably monitors closely.

We left with a bottle each of the Viognier, as well as the 2006 Old Vine Zinfandel, which Mike assured us is likely on the same tasting path as the 2004 we tried (we hope he’s right!).  If you’re looking for a biodynamic producer with a versatile lineup of very good wines, Porter Creek is a great stop.  We look forward to getting back when there’s less of a crowd to spend more time asking questions about their winemaking practices.

Organic farming sign as posted outside Porter Creek

Next Up: Details of our tasting room visits to certified-organic producers, including Frog’s Leap Winery.

For more about biodynamic and organic wines, visit DrinkTheEarth.com.