Need an excuse to drink wine on Earth Day?
Wine is a very natural product, so if you’re looking for an opportunity to open some a little early – HAPPY EARTH DAY.
Here are 4 excellent excuses to open a bottle at lunch time. Or you know… sooner. For nature.
1: This wine is organic!
The winemaker Virgile is a poster boy for organic viticulture in the region, acting as President at Millesime Bio. That’s France’s largest organic wine conference!
The Languedoc-Roussillon region of France is perfect for organic grape-growing, and that’s where this beauty comes from. The constant sun and very low rainfalls make this region perfectly suited for organic viticulture and low carbon footprints which is why this region has the largest surface area of vineyards certified organic.
2: This wine is BIODYNAMIC (ie it was basically made by nature-conscious wizards)
Benjamin Darnault Maris – Biodynamic
This wine is made from biodynamically certified vineyards in Minervois la Liviniere.
Biodynamics go far beyond typical organic agriculture in an effort to have a very healthy vineyard and a very healthy planet. Biodynamic winemakers like Benjamin Darnault will often judge the health of their vineyard by the world around it (eg biodiversity in the soil and the health of the native insect population). It’s all about your relationship with the world around you and nurturing healthy sustainable cycles in nature.
3: This wine is from a sustainably grown vineyard
Karen Birmingham Clarksburg Petite Sirah – Sustainable
Karen Birmingham makes wines at one of California’s leading sustainable wineries.
Using sustainably grown fruit from Clarksburg and Lodi.
In some ways, sustainability is more stringent than organic viticulture. Organic viticulture means you don’t use synthetic products to treat your vineyards but you can still use naturally occurring products like heavy metals.
On the other hand, sustainable viticulture looks at overall inputs and outputs of the vineyards to ensure long-lived well-being for the land as well as the people the land feeds and nurtures.
4: This wine was dry-farmed.
Stefano di Blasi Chianti Classico – Dry-farmed
This Chianti is a classic example of how old European appellations are usually “dry-farmed” – that means they don’t irrigate their vineyards.
Dry farming is something you consistently find in older wine regions where the vines have grown since long before farmers had the resources or tools to drip irrigate.
Most of the European appellations we work with have stipulations regulating the use of irrigation, often forbidding it except for the most extreme circumstances.
This Chianti is a perfect expression of Italian Sangiovese and the winemaker Stefano embraces dry-farming because irrigating might hide the unique character of his vineyards in a particular vintage and thus lose the Chianti terroir.
So have a glass of wine for Earth Day!
If you can’t decide which earth friendly wine to open, open more than one. You’re doing it for the planet. Definitely not because you’re a lush.
