Is it possible for a wine label to be a green label? Absolutely!
Just as brew masters across the globe are turning the beer industry into a greener one, vintners are following suit with their own eco-friendly practices. Organic and biodynamically produced wines are a fast-growing segment of the fast-growing U.S. wine market. According to the Organic Trade Association, organic wines and wines made with organic grapes accounted for $80 million in sales in the middle of the last decade, with sales expected to increase. Those are the most recent numbers available, and most research affirms that the recession has not dampened wine sales in the $15-per-bottle-and-under category.
While a wine made from bamboo would be considered sustainable for its raw product alone, there aren’t many options found. A “bamboo wine” is available in Tanzania where it is made from the fermented juice of the wine bamboo (oxytenanthera braunii). Called Ulanzi, this is either fermented or unfermented (sweet ulanzi) bamboo sap which is obtained by tapping young bamboo shoots during the rainy season. This sap is a clear, whitish beverage with a sweet/alcoholic taste and a shelf life of several days.
But for anyone lacking a “Tanzania” section in their local wine store or who simply don’t have the time to make their own bamboo wine, there are eco-friendly wines available.
Keep in mind that it can be difficult to be a “certified organic” wine as the USDA organic seal requires a wine to be devoid of sulfur dioxide, the very item that ensures a reasonable life span in a wine. However, USDA will allow wine-makers to label their wine “made with organic grapes” if their farming practices are certified organic and their finished products has less than the normal sulfites in it or roughly 100 parts per million of total sulfites. (The maximum allotment in conventional wines, by law, is 350 parts per million).
As you go to set your Thanksgiving table this week, consider any of the following eco-friendly wines:
Parducci Wine Cellars – Parducci Cellars adopted the simple yet profound definition of sustainability that “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” To that end, they make their wines from locally farmed grapes, recycle 100% of their winery waste water via an on-site wetland and use earth-friendly packaging. In an amazing feat, they also utilize 100% renewable green power to run their winery including solar and biodiesel energy.
Yellow + Blue Organic Wines – Made with 100% organic grapes, Y+B also tackled the environmental issues of packaging and transport. Noting that glass bottles and corks contribute to the carbon footprint as much as chemicals do in conventional grape farming, this wine company chooses to package its product in a Tetra Pak wine carton. Similar to milk packaging, the container allows for 93% wine and 7% packaging (who doesn’t love that combination??). Acknowledging that transportation plays a huge role in eco-friendliness, the company also chooses to purchase wine in bulk and ship it via insulated steel tanks to North America where the Tetra Paks are then filled and distributed. Employing these practices has lowered their carbon footprint to 54% (almost half the size of the traditional wine business model).
Etica – This company asks you to “drink like you give a damn,” and focuses on sustainability and fair trade. Their goal is to support and promote ethical practices within the wine industry (heck, their name even means ethics!) and to work with producers from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the United States to help farmers funnel funds back into vital local services such as building infrastructures and education development.
The Organic Wine Company – The name pretty much says it all. This company is committed to bringing consumers world-class organically grown wines. Their selection even includes biodynamic and vegan wines! Not only do they know that organic (or grown with organic grapes) wines are better for the environment but they also realize that sustainable vineyards tend to perform better. These vineyards have a natural resistance to bad weather and pests and because the grapes are hand-picked (as opposed to machine picked), only the ripest and healthiest grapes make it to the stomp!
So raise your glass this Thanksgiving and be thankful for this Mother Earth!
Visit Green Earth News Green is Grand section for more eco-friendly tips and be sure to invest in luxurious and beautiful bamboo clothes this season so you can look as beautiful as the table you set.
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For Fair Trade Certified wines, spirits and gifts for the holiday season please take a look at Fair Trade USA’s staff favorites. Fair Trade USA is based in Oakland, CA and is the leading non-profit third-party certifier of Fair Trade Products: http://www.fairtradeusa.org/blog/2010/11/ultimate-fair-trade-holiday-gift-guide/
Organic wine is not actually very Eco-friendly. If it is fertilized with compost, that form of nitrogen has a much larger carbon footprint because of methane emissions. The copper fungicides that are used on Organic are much more toxic than modern synthetic options, persistent in the environment, and hard on aquatic life. If the farmer controls weeds in the vine row with a “French plow” it encourages erosion, particularly on hillside vineyards. If they use a flame weeder, the footprint of that propane is huge. Conventional Wine Grapes, at least in California, are a highly sustainable crop as that industry has been at the forefront of sustainability for more than a decade. Organic is definitely not better and probably worse for the environment.
Is there a reason (I wonder) why none of that is taken into account by the USDA?
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