DrinkTheEarth.com Blog

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.

Yes, DrinkTheEarth.com has joined the estimated 10 million+ user base of Twitter.  We’ll be sending out quick updates (in 140 characters or less, of course) on the happenings in and around the organic beverage industry.  To ‘follow’ DrinkTheEarth on Twitter, find us here.

Many thanks to Elizabeth Candelario, Marketing Director for the Philomath, Oregon-based Demeter Association, for sending us an updated list of certified biodynamic wineries.  New wineries achieving certified vineyard status in recent months include:

Beckmen Vineyards (Santa Ynez Valley, CA)

Qupe (Los Olivos, CA)

Radio-Coteau (Sebastopol, CA)

Reeds Lane Vineyard (Lyle, WA)

Wildridge Vineyard (Yakima, WA)

Reeds Lane & Wildridge join Grandview’s Wallula Gap Vineyards, and Walla Walla’s Cayuse Vineyards as the only Demeter-certified biodynamic wineries in Washington state.  Good to see the biodynamic movement in the U.S. grow beyond California’s cornerstone regions of Mendocino, Napa, and Sonoma.

(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.

Perhaps the least discussed segment of the organic beverage industry is organic liquors.  While there are a growing number of organic wineries and micro-breweries, few certified organic distilleries are in existence.  We recently had a chance to chat with the Founders of ORGANIC NATION & Pacific Botanicals, who have developed a unique partnership whereby the latter produces organic rye for the former’s organic vodkas.  The interview appears here as part of our Eco-Chats series.  This partnership allows O-N to source rye from scarcely more than an hour away, as opposed to importing from a much further distance, saving on distribution costs and the environment at the same time.

Both Diane Paulson and Mark Wheeler take their impact on the environment seriously, as these long-time Oregon residents believe in building a business around the principles of sustainability.  We enjoyed hearing the story of their ongoing partnership, and hope you do, too.

We have some new content coming soon (including a great eco-chat with Diane Paulson of ORGANIC NATION, and her organic rye provider, Mark Wheeler, of Pacific Botanicals).  Until then, enjoy a few resources that we’ve been meaning to share with the DTE community.

Organic Wine Match of the Day (Denver Wine Examiner)

Well-written reviews of organic wines paired with tasty foods, including reviews of many European and South American wines.  A good daily read for all of you foodies with an interest in finding organic drinking companions to pair with your culinary achievements.

TerraCycle Cork Brigade Program

Looking to do something with all of those spare corks, but lack the creativity?  New Jersey’s TerraCycle has an option for you.  Simply mail them your used corks, and they’ll pay you cash.  The corks are then made into a number of different products, including cork boards that are sold in outlets such as OfficeMax.  Unfortunately, at last check, they aren’t currently accepting any new applications for the program (bummer).

Eat Well Guide

Online guide that helps you find sustainable and organic food options in your local area (available in the U.S. and Canada).  By entering your zip code they will tell you local options for everything from farmers markets to personal chefs.

Sustain Lane

Nice all-purpose sustainability guide.  Includes a lot of user-generated content, including product reviews of all types of sustainable and organic products ranging from beers and wines to vitamins.

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.

From time to time we’d like to share with you our thoughts on books that are relevant to the organic food and wine industry.  One recent such read was Paul Dolan’s True To Our Roots: Fermenting a Business Revolution, published by Bloomberg Press.  OK, so maybe this isn’t exactly a new book (it was released in 2003), but it is remarkably prescient given that it was written largely ahead of the current eco-trend of today.

The former CEO of Fetzer Vineyards, Paul Dolan is known as an American pioneer for making wine following organic and sustainable principles.  The book chronicles his tenure at Fetzer, first as a young head winemaker, then later as its CEO.  It would be easy to imagine a large, mega-winery like Fetzer to create wine using whatever chemicals or energy-intensive machinery it needed to keep prices under $10.  After all, many people perceive organic or biodynamic wines to be crafted only by boutique wineries who are small enough to do everything by hand.  Fetzer went down a very different path, and made a deliberate decision to make sustainability a part of every process at the company.  This included the creation of a new organic label, Bonterra, that eventually spun off as its own brand as detailed in the book.   They really challenged the old perception that profits and sustainability couldn’t coexist.

The book itself is more about socially responsible leadership than it is about organic wine, even though a fair amount of time is spent explaining the viticultural decisions Fetzer made, and how and why specific sustainable practices were implemented.  Some of our favorite parts of the book centered around how various departments at Fetzer surprised even Dolan with their interest in finding ways to be more environmentally friendly, down to procuring the corks, and preparing the wine barrels.  Definitely worth a read, and readily available at Amazon (or possibly your local library, where we were able to get a copy).

Through recent correspondence we’ve had with Demeter USA, there are currently more than 50 certified biodynamic wineries in the United States (more if you count individual vineyards that have been certified).  The existence of organic bars such as Terroir in San Francisco, and GustOrganics in NYC has shown us that some consumers have begun to make the distinction between organic/biodynamic and traditional wines in the marketplace.  Many wineries we’ve personally spoken to over the past year have said they are either pursuing or investigating sustainability efforts.  Will that translate into more wineries achieving biodynamic certification?  Requiring a significant long-term commitment, biodynamic farming is not for everyone.

For their part, Demeter USA expects to certify at least 20 additional wineries this year.  All but only a select few of the presently certified wineries hail from either California, Oregon, and Washington, undoubtedly the heart of the American wine industry.  We hope to see increases in the number of biodynamic producers from not only the organic hotbed regions of Mendocino and the Willamette Valley, but in areas further east such as New York state.  Only time will tell if 2009 is to be a significant year for growth in biodynamic winemaking.