Friday, August 19, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
In the Department of "What's Old is New Again"
This is one of the coolest art and wine projects ever.
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If you've been to Saracina winery in Hopland, you may have heard about their new fermentation vessels - terracotta - which is how it was done back in the day. As in like ancient times. But it's the new hip thing.
John Fetzer and friends hit upon the idea of getting clay vessels made that would echo the forms of modern stainless steel tanks. And so they ordered custom clay pipes - the kind used in heavy construction projects - for wine fermentation, customized a bit.
With the help of a California College of Art student, they went a step further, commissioning ancient style figurines to sit atop the buried fermentation tanks (that take advantage of cool underground temps).
These are photos from the delivery in December 2010.
Read the whole, fascinating story here.
And enjoy the pics.
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| These sit on top of the buried fermentation tanks. |
But Is the Wine Good?
The more I write this book/app, the more I realize what a disservice we've done to organically grown wines.
Most wine descriptions have about 2-3 sentences in which to tell their story. If you take up 1-2 sentences with talking about how organic or biodynamic or bird-box-driven or solar-powered you are, where's the time to sell people on the actual wine?
This I think is the great strength of this project - it just cuts to the chase.
My goal is to stop people from whining, and saying, "But is the wine good?" which is a very common response when talking about organically grown wine.
In my app, the wines ARE good, to wit:
• 4 of the wines were featured last year as Top 100 Wines of the Year in the SF Chronicle
• 2 of the wines have been in the Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 Wines (this is pretty amazing because this covers the WHOLE WORLD)
Many of them come from wineries rated three stars by Hugh Johnson or standouts for Robert Parker. (I haven't counted those up yet).
And today, I actually found two more wines - from Napa - and one from Qupe (I wanted to get them in here) and a few more from Bonny Doon (new releases)...and so on.
I now have 200+ wines - and that's without the No Sulfites Added USDA Organic wines (which might merit their own app, I think - at least I would prefer it that way, as I cannot go on writing this app forever and I think they deserve their own special place of their own). Yowsa.
Most wine descriptions have about 2-3 sentences in which to tell their story. If you take up 1-2 sentences with talking about how organic or biodynamic or bird-box-driven or solar-powered you are, where's the time to sell people on the actual wine?
This I think is the great strength of this project - it just cuts to the chase.
My goal is to stop people from whining, and saying, "But is the wine good?" which is a very common response when talking about organically grown wine.
In my app, the wines ARE good, to wit:
• 4 of the wines were featured last year as Top 100 Wines of the Year in the SF Chronicle
• 2 of the wines have been in the Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 Wines (this is pretty amazing because this covers the WHOLE WORLD)
Many of them come from wineries rated three stars by Hugh Johnson or standouts for Robert Parker. (I haven't counted those up yet).
And today, I actually found two more wines - from Napa - and one from Qupe (I wanted to get them in here) and a few more from Bonny Doon (new releases)...and so on.
I now have 200+ wines - and that's without the No Sulfites Added USDA Organic wines (which might merit their own app, I think - at least I would prefer it that way, as I cannot go on writing this app forever and I think they deserve their own special place of their own). Yowsa.
Virtual Tour: McFadden Farm and Vineyard in Potter Valley
McFadden Farm and Vineyard is a lovely spot located in old timey, rural Potter Valley. Organic for 40 years, this is one of the hidden treasures of wine country.
The vineyard is not open to the public (except to Wine Club members for special events) so enjoy a virtual trip here:
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| Any trip to Potter Valley means passing through Hooper's Corner, which has, amidsts the Barefeet (Gallo-owned brand) wines, some from local vineyards |
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| Potter Valley |
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| McFadden vineyards, organic for 40 years |
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| McFadden is also a farm, selling organic herbs |
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| Vines come in many configurations |
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| Main office at the ranch |
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| Map of Potter Valley from Hooper's Corner store |
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| Guinness McFadden as a new arrival 40 years ago |
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| McFadden tasting room in Hopland - open every day |
Hurray - It's Back - Grenache from Bonny Doon
There are very few $20 or under organic or biodynamic grenaches from the U.S. - and this is one...
Here's the list I have going of others under $20.
Mendo in a Day
Some people have fantasy football. Some people have fantasy tours - in the back of my mind, I am putting together trips to take in wine country that aren't just tasting room hops, but really tell a story. Here's my latest and greatest on what to see and do in the Hopland/Ukiah area if you have only one day.
This will be in my new iPhone app as well so you can actually get the directions, etc. and all the details as well.
OLD ITALY
1. Testa
See what an old Italian family vineyard and winery is like - it's all still there. The house, the barn, the dry farmed, head pruned vines. And wine! You can enjoy the Black, which just took a gold medal at the Mendocino Wine Competition.
JUG WINE HISTORY MEETS MODERN SUSTAINABILITY
2. Parducci
Italians ramped up to industrial strength production - the Gallos of their day - and after Prohibition, this place really took off. Its redwood tanks are a reminder of a bygone era. Today the newly reinvented brand is an early green leader in its price category (under $10) though its wines are not organic. The wetlands tour impresses.
A GREEN WINE LEADER
3. Paul Dolan
Partners in the Parducci facility, and located in the same tasting room, Paul Dolan wines are 100% organic and some are biodynamic. Dolan was involved in starting the Bonterra and Fetzer brands.
SANEL VALLEY SOPHISTICATE, WITH CAVES
4. Saracina
John Fetzer has one of Napa's top winemakers David Ramey onboard as consulting winemaker. The results are impressive - sophisticated wines that are served at no less than Gary Danko and French Laundry. The caves, newly built, are fun to tour and there's art in the mix, too. Sheep, olive trees, pomegranates - all those plus the caves and high quality wines make a stop here a must.
This will be in my new iPhone app as well so you can actually get the directions, etc. and all the details as well.
OLD ITALY
1. Testa
See what an old Italian family vineyard and winery is like - it's all still there. The house, the barn, the dry farmed, head pruned vines. And wine! You can enjoy the Black, which just took a gold medal at the Mendocino Wine Competition.
JUG WINE HISTORY MEETS MODERN SUSTAINABILITY
2. Parducci
Italians ramped up to industrial strength production - the Gallos of their day - and after Prohibition, this place really took off. Its redwood tanks are a reminder of a bygone era. Today the newly reinvented brand is an early green leader in its price category (under $10) though its wines are not organic. The wetlands tour impresses.
A GREEN WINE LEADER
3. Paul Dolan
Partners in the Parducci facility, and located in the same tasting room, Paul Dolan wines are 100% organic and some are biodynamic. Dolan was involved in starting the Bonterra and Fetzer brands.
SANEL VALLEY SOPHISTICATE, WITH CAVES
4. Saracina
John Fetzer has one of Napa's top winemakers David Ramey onboard as consulting winemaker. The results are impressive - sophisticated wines that are served at no less than Gary Danko and French Laundry. The caves, newly built, are fun to tour and there's art in the mix, too. Sheep, olive trees, pomegranates - all those plus the caves and high quality wines make a stop here a must.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
This Is One Cute Video
Travel along on this tour of Fetzer Family owned wineries...starting with Patianna, and going on to Saracina, Jeriko and Oster.
The quality is poor, but stick with it - the spirits are high.
The quality is poor, but stick with it - the spirits are high.
Ojai Vineyard's Organically Grown Wines
Ojai Vineyard (in Ojai, California) has two wines made 100% from biodynamically certified grapes - their Presidio Pinot Noir and their Presidio Syrah.
Although their winery facility is not certified, it's nice to know which of their world-class wines one might want to check out first.
For more about Ojai Vineyards, visit their web site. The tasting room is open daily 12-5.
Although their winery facility is not certified, it's nice to know which of their world-class wines one might want to check out first.
For more about Ojai Vineyards, visit their web site. The tasting room is open daily 12-5.
Save the Date - October 21 in Oakland
App Wine Tasting and Jazz Concert - Save the Date - Oct. 21
We'll be pouring wines from my new app the Budget Guide to Great Organic Wines...as part of a larger concert event. Details coming soon!
We'll be pouring wines from my new app the Budget Guide to Great Organic Wines...as part of a larger concert event. Details coming soon!
Bonterra's Roussanne - Going Once, Going Twice...
Bonterra set out on the white Rhone path, a few years back, as the wave caught on, but the brand is now discontinuing its highly rated wine.No less a wine critic than Hugh Johnson called it a star, but apparently the market wasn't ready for another new varietal and Bonterra's retained, in the department of new varietals, only its Viognier.
My advice: get a case of this lovely blend of 88% Roussanne, 6% Viognier, and 2% Muscat before it's all gone. It's $15 online.
You'll find it on the Bonterra.com web site.
I am including it in my new app now called Budget Guide to Great Organic Wines.
There's only one other organic Roussanne out there right now and it's from Tablas Creek, but it lists for $30.
Tablas Creek, founded by a great Rhone wine family (the Perrins) itself, has a nice write up about the varietal here.
Raging Organic Farming Debate over at Scientific American
Jason Marks has just done a masterful job in responding to a ridiculous article on organic farming (how did it ever get published) on Scientific American. Read his incredibly well founded rebuttal here.
Join Chiarito's Wine Club for 30% Off...
Chiarito Vineyard, one of my favorite wineries - John Chiarito's Nero d'Avola just won a Gold Medal in the Mendocino Wine Competition this month - is having a special on these beautiful Italian wines.
These (organic but uncertified) wines are so well made that they are highly regarded in their land of origin...see previous post here.
Join the wine club to receive a 30 percent discount for 30 days following the wine club pickup in mid Sept.
This brings down the price of the Nero d'Avola from $32 to the very affordable $22.40 a bottle. Such a deal.
The wine is dry farmed, head pruned, and cover cropped and the vineyards managed and tended to by hand by first generation proprietor, grower and winemaker John Chiarito who has a dedicated and deft way with southern Italian wines and flavors, pioneering varietals Nero d'Avola and Negroamaro in the U.S.
This is the ultimate pizza wine, and great for any red Italian dishes, as well as spicy sausage, grilled meats, and I am sure you can think of any number of foods to serve it with. Just join the wine club and get a case or two in the basement. This wine may indeed become a collector's item.
See more videos of the winery here.
AND, in case you missed it, yesterday's KQED Climate Watch offered up a story on John's two pioneering varieties as the way to transition the wine industry to varieties more suited to our coming warmer climate.
Read it here.
These (organic but uncertified) wines are so well made that they are highly regarded in their land of origin...see previous post here.
Join the wine club to receive a 30 percent discount for 30 days following the wine club pickup in mid Sept.
This brings down the price of the Nero d'Avola from $32 to the very affordable $22.40 a bottle. Such a deal.
The wine is dry farmed, head pruned, and cover cropped and the vineyards managed and tended to by hand by first generation proprietor, grower and winemaker John Chiarito who has a dedicated and deft way with southern Italian wines and flavors, pioneering varietals Nero d'Avola and Negroamaro in the U.S.
This is the ultimate pizza wine, and great for any red Italian dishes, as well as spicy sausage, grilled meats, and I am sure you can think of any number of foods to serve it with. Just join the wine club and get a case or two in the basement. This wine may indeed become a collector's item.
See more videos of the winery here.
AND, in case you missed it, yesterday's KQED Climate Watch offered up a story on John's two pioneering varieties as the way to transition the wine industry to varieties more suited to our coming warmer climate.
Read it here.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Lake County Wine Competition - Organic Winners
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| Sweepstakes Winners - Ceago took 2 of the top 4 spots |
The 3rd annual Lake County Wine Competition in late July put Lake County wineries to the test - and organic wines swept many of the top spots.
Ceago won two of the four top Sweepstakes awards with its Rose of Syrah and its Muscat Canelli. (Both of these wines are featured in my new app Budget Guide to Great Organic Wines - coming Sept. 1 to the Apple app store).
Hawk and Horse won a Best of Class for its Cabernet Sauvignon ($65 - made by one of Napa's top winemakers), grown in the Red Hills AVA.
Bonterra also won a Gold medal for its Muscat and a Silver for its Riesling.
Judges in the third annual Lake County Wine Awards Competition – which took place in Clearlake Oaks, Calif., July 27-29, 2011 – were John Buechsenstein, Randy Caparoso, Joe Roberts, Deborah Parker Wong, Shauna Rosenblum, Tina Caputo, Mike Dunne, Martha Dunne, Don Neel, Pamela Heiligenthal, Marc Hinton, Virginie Boone and Clark Smith. Photo courtesy of the Lake County Winery Association.
For a list of all winners, click here.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Ceago Sauvignon Blanc featured in New York Times Wine Club
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Slow Foods Dinner at Masa's to Honor Charlie and Martha Barra
Charlie Barra, the famed Mendocino wine grape grower and vintner, and his wife Martha will be the guests of honor at a special winemaker's dinner Sunday, August 28 at Masa's, a Michelin one star restaurant, in SF.
Chef Gregory Short will be creating four courses to that feature these Barra wines:
- 2009 Pinot Grigio
- 2008 Chardonnay
- 2007 Pinot Noir
- 2006 Sangiovese
- 2007 Muscat Canelli
Each of these wines will be featured in my new iPhone app due out in a few weeks. (Yes I am madly scribbling). Be sure to subscribe to this blog to be notified when it launches.
The August event is a benefit for the Youth Food Education Project.
Details here.
Wednesday, August 17 - Class on Sustainable, Organic, Biodynamic
Upcoming class at the Presidio Cafe in SF on the difference between sustainable, organic and biodynamic...with Presidio Golf Course and Clubhouse’s Food and Beverage Director Michael Perry... see here.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
New Documentary Premieres on Natural Wine -Aug. 25!
In a parallel universe, the natural wine movement (as distinct from the organically grown wine movement) is taking off with the premiere of Wines From Here, a new film from the Winobrothers debuting Aug. 25 in SF. Here's the trailer:
Wine From Here - trailer from WinoBrothers on Vimeo.
Alas, much of the natural winemaking movement hasn't been taking certified organically sourced grapes That Seriously. But some of my favorite winemakers who are are in the film including Alex Davis from Porter Creek (maker of my favorite Pinot Noir), Kevin Kelley of Natural Process Alliance, and Josh Jensen of Calera, along with Mike Dashe. Alex, Kevin and Josh are all committed to using 100% certified organic or biodynamic grapes and wineries. Which I like.
Here are their interviews:
Wine From Here - trailer from WinoBrothers on Vimeo.
Alas, much of the natural winemaking movement hasn't been taking certified organically sourced grapes That Seriously. But some of my favorite winemakers who are are in the film including Alex Davis from Porter Creek (maker of my favorite Pinot Noir), Kevin Kelley of Natural Process Alliance, and Josh Jensen of Calera, along with Mike Dashe. Alex, Kevin and Josh are all committed to using 100% certified organic or biodynamic grapes and wineries. Which I like.
Here are their interviews:
A visit to Porter Creek Vineyards from WinoBrothers on Vimeo.
A visit to the Natural Process Alliance from WinoBrothers on Vimeo.
A visit to Calera Wine Company from WinoBrothers on Vimeo.
Philosophies of natural wine from WinoBrothers on Vimeo.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Mendocino Wine Competition - Organic Winners! (Gold and Double Gold)
Mendocino's annual wine competition was held last week with a distinguished panel of judges including: Linda Murphy, wine editor for the SF Chronicle, Virginie Boone, Dan Berger, Peggie Christiansen, wine buyer for Whole Foods, and many others.
The organically grown contenders made a very strong showing in the pack of all the wines, winning a number of double golds and golds in addition to the silver and bronze categories.
Here's a list of all the winners on the competition web site. My own list of the organic-only double gold and gold winners is below.
DOUBLE GOLD
Cabernet Sauvignon
Paul Dolan, $25
Where else can you find a double gold Cab for $25? Only in Mendocino. Paul Dolan is such an industry veteran. It's nice to find quality and value together in the same bottle - and at this price. One more reason to pay a lot of attention to Mendocino's wines.
GOLDS
WHITES
• Blended White
Atrea The Choir, $20
This wine, on a number of top tier restaurant wine lists, keeps proving itself over and over to be a great bargain. It's a white Rhone blend. And affordable!
• Sauvignon Blanc
Patianna, $15.99
Year after year, Patianna keeps getting critical acclaim for their SB. This year is no exception. Hmmm...wonder what they are doing right over there? Is it the vineyard? The winemaking? Or both? Also, nice to see another affordable wine top the list.
REDS
The Testa win here is a surprising and exciting story. This little newcomer, ranking right up there with the likes of veterans Paul Dolan and John Fetzer (Atrea)? A real human interest story there. (You've heard about Testa's story in previous posts here...)
• Cabernet Sauvignon
Barra of Mendocino (2004), $42
Barra put its best foot forward and got the recognition it deserves. This was Charlie Barra's 59th Harvest wine.
Frey took the gold last year in this category, so they must be doing something right, too, to win gold year over year on this wine.
• Pinot Noir
Masut, $40
Already a heavyweight winner in several other competitions, it's nice to see this wine getting local recognition in a region where there are more than a few powerhouses in Pinot. There were nine Pinot Noir golds this year. Masut was the only organic one. In fact, this is not only organic, but also biodynamic.
I have to say this is one of my personal favorite wines. Join the wine club and get it for $25 a bottle! It's also on some prestigious restaurants' wine lists.
DESSERT
Yorkville Cellars won a number of silvers and bronzes - but this one took the gold. It was a one-off experiment of a wine, since this is a pretty unusual sweet wine to make. See more about it in this video.
I will post the silver and bronze winners in a separate post.
I just, for reference, checked the Sonoma Wine Competition winners from 2010 to get a feeling for how many organically grown wines were entered and won. One gets the feeling in reviewing the lists of winners in Sonoma that many of the best wineries do not participate in the county competition and are not represented. Only about 1-2 percent of the winners are from organic wineries, mostly Imagery with the occasional wine from Hawley or Michel-Schlumberger.
As for Napa, I searched online for a Napa wine competition, but didn't find one. Does one exist? If you know, let me know.
The Mendocino County Competition appears to have broader participation among the region's wineries, which makes these winners all the more outstanding in their field.
The organically grown contenders made a very strong showing in the pack of all the wines, winning a number of double golds and golds in addition to the silver and bronze categories.
Here's a list of all the winners on the competition web site. My own list of the organic-only double gold and gold winners is below.
DOUBLE GOLD
Cabernet Sauvignon
Paul Dolan, $25
Where else can you find a double gold Cab for $25? Only in Mendocino. Paul Dolan is such an industry veteran. It's nice to find quality and value together in the same bottle - and at this price. One more reason to pay a lot of attention to Mendocino's wines.
GOLDS
SPARKLING
[TIED with French powerhouse Roederer Estate]
This is nothing short of astonishing.
Last year, another "local yokel" (I exaggerate), McFadden Vineyard (a 3,000-case winery) TIED the multimillion-dollar, French-owned Roederer Estate (100,000 cases a year) in the sparkling wine category. This year humble McFadden scored a silver (more on that in a later post).
I have thought for awhile that Terra Savia's sparkler was hot (in previous posts) but this confirms it. Being tied with French giant Roederer must really be something for Terra Savia's Jim Milone to celebrate.
Last year, another "local yokel" (I exaggerate), McFadden Vineyard (a 3,000-case winery) TIED the multimillion-dollar, French-owned Roederer Estate (100,000 cases a year) in the sparkling wine category. This year humble McFadden scored a silver (more on that in a later post).
I have thought for awhile that Terra Savia's sparkler was hot (in previous posts) but this confirms it. Being tied with French giant Roederer must really be something for Terra Savia's Jim Milone to celebrate.
Atrea The Choir, $20
This wine, on a number of top tier restaurant wine lists, keeps proving itself over and over to be a great bargain. It's a white Rhone blend. And affordable!
• Sauvignon Blanc
Patianna, $15.99
Year after year, Patianna keeps getting critical acclaim for their SB. This year is no exception. Hmmm...wonder what they are doing right over there? Is it the vineyard? The winemaking? Or both? Also, nice to see another affordable wine top the list.
REDS
• Blended Red
The Testa win here is a surprising and exciting story. This little newcomer, ranking right up there with the likes of veterans Paul Dolan and John Fetzer (Atrea)? A real human interest story there. (You've heard about Testa's story in previous posts here...)
• Cabernet Sauvignon
Barra of Mendocino (2004), $42
Barra put its best foot forward and got the recognition it deserves. This was Charlie Barra's 59th Harvest wine.
• Petite Syrah
Frey Wines, $14 (Sulfite free)
Frey took the gold last year in this category, so they must be doing something right, too, to win gold year over year on this wine.
• Pinot Noir
Masut, $40
Already a heavyweight winner in several other competitions, it's nice to see this wine getting local recognition in a region where there are more than a few powerhouses in Pinot. There were nine Pinot Noir golds this year. Masut was the only organic one. In fact, this is not only organic, but also biodynamic.
• Italian Reds
Chiarito Nero d'Avola, $32 (not CCOF but practicing organic)
I have to say this is one of my personal favorite wines. Join the wine club and get it for $25 a bottle! It's also on some prestigious restaurants' wine lists.
DESSERT
I will post the silver and bronze winners in a separate post.
I just, for reference, checked the Sonoma Wine Competition winners from 2010 to get a feeling for how many organically grown wines were entered and won. One gets the feeling in reviewing the lists of winners in Sonoma that many of the best wineries do not participate in the county competition and are not represented. Only about 1-2 percent of the winners are from organic wineries, mostly Imagery with the occasional wine from Hawley or Michel-Schlumberger.
As for Napa, I searched online for a Napa wine competition, but didn't find one. Does one exist? If you know, let me know.
The Mendocino County Competition appears to have broader participation among the region's wineries, which makes these winners all the more outstanding in their field.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Boxed AND Organic - A Rose for You East Coasters
A French rose that's both organic and comes in a box AND a Dr. Vino recommendation: what are you waiting for?I don't usually recommend foreign wines for us California locavores, but since you may hail from the East Coast (where the food miles from Europe to U.S. via shipping outweigh food miles from California to NY via trucking in carbon emissions terms), this sounds like one to check out.
Dr. Vino also mentions some stealthy uses for wine in box I had not previously considered.
As for you West Coasters, I can recommend my favorite local bottled options (from previous post) - Verdad, Testa, Naughty Boy... Still good. Even amid the summer fog, I find pulling out the rose makes me think...it could be hot again soon.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Trendspotting: Organic Wine in Mendocino's Supermarkets
I recently had an exciting three hour coffee meeting with a new Slow Foods friend who is a tour guide. We were discussing her experiences taking foreign food boards on weeklong trendspotting tours in California.
Today, I saw the future of organic wine in supermarkets in Mendocino County. I am in the beautiful coastal town of Mendocino (where I am on a writing retreat this week, writing my guide to Organically Grown Wines for $20 or Less). Both coastal and inland natural foods stores are an organic supermarket wine shoppers' mecca.
Supermarket Shopping
The local Harvest Market, which has a small store in Mendocino and a large store in Fort Bragg, carries many of the usual Mendo suspects - from Barra and Bonterra to Paul Dolan and Terra Savia. Even McFadden and tiny Naughty Boy are represented.
In Ukiah, the Ukiah Coop's Natural Foods store also has a fine selection and the highest ratio of organic to nonorganic wines I have seen ANYWHERE in the state. I would have to say it has hands down the best selection, bar none, of organically grown wines (since most of them are so close to Ukiah.)
Whole Foods is way behind both of these stores as is Berkeley Bowl and other fine leading Bay Area groceries that have some - but not very many - organically grown wines. I have found in the Oakland Whole Foods that most of the organically grown wines are a. not in the eco-friendly section, b. from Europe, c. not labeled organic, and d. are outpromoted by Whole Foods promotion for its nonorganic answer to Two Buck Chuck - Three Wishes.
If one had wishes for the Ukiah Natural Foods store and Harvest Markets, it would be that the organically grown wines had a separate section AS WELL as being intermingled in the regular sections. However the great majority of these wineries aren't afraid to put the "Made with Organic Grapes" label on the bottle (unlike a large number of other wineries). In Mendo.
Wine Store
Stepping up to the more upscale dimension of wine distribution, there's The Wine Shop on the Mendocino village waterfront. Focusing on Mendo wines, it has a great selection of the under $20 as well as higher priced organic wines from the above as well as Testa and others.
Contrast this with the Oakville Grocery in Healdsburg (or their Napa brethren): I think I only found one organic selection (La Neblina Pinot Noir from Radio Coteau) when I stopped in on my way up north.
Shame on them. There are so many great producers to choose from.
The Corner Stores and Groceries
There's certainly a sinking feeling when you go into corner store in Hopland, for instance, and find the usual Gallo suspects - Barefoot, et al - and none of the local fare. We're in the Heartland of Organic Wine, people! Wake up! You want to sell local maps, crafts, and other doodahs - then why isn't the biggest agribusiness crop (wine) in the store?
Though the bigger shame belongs to the wine distribution system - for continuing to be controlled by distributors who only want to do business with the five top producers (Diageo, Gallo, Constellation, The Wine Group and Jackson) - none of whom offers an organic wine (except for two wines from Constellation's Sterling Vineyards, which offers a Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc, and Bronco's TJ exclusive Green Fin). Why build those big Safeways with the huge wine aisles, when there's no organic wine to choose from?
It's kind of like cable - hundreds of channels to choose from and yet, the Internet/Youtube/Netflix will win.
You'd think the altfood network, which was the first to step up to organic, would fill the slot for organic wines, and they are getting there, I suppose, but a lot more slowly than I would have imagined.
So that's it - you've had the trendspotting tour. We'll see what's to come.
Today, I saw the future of organic wine in supermarkets in Mendocino County. I am in the beautiful coastal town of Mendocino (where I am on a writing retreat this week, writing my guide to Organically Grown Wines for $20 or Less). Both coastal and inland natural foods stores are an organic supermarket wine shoppers' mecca.
Supermarket Shopping
The local Harvest Market, which has a small store in Mendocino and a large store in Fort Bragg, carries many of the usual Mendo suspects - from Barra and Bonterra to Paul Dolan and Terra Savia. Even McFadden and tiny Naughty Boy are represented.
In Ukiah, the Ukiah Coop's Natural Foods store also has a fine selection and the highest ratio of organic to nonorganic wines I have seen ANYWHERE in the state. I would have to say it has hands down the best selection, bar none, of organically grown wines (since most of them are so close to Ukiah.)
Whole Foods is way behind both of these stores as is Berkeley Bowl and other fine leading Bay Area groceries that have some - but not very many - organically grown wines. I have found in the Oakland Whole Foods that most of the organically grown wines are a. not in the eco-friendly section, b. from Europe, c. not labeled organic, and d. are outpromoted by Whole Foods promotion for its nonorganic answer to Two Buck Chuck - Three Wishes.
If one had wishes for the Ukiah Natural Foods store and Harvest Markets, it would be that the organically grown wines had a separate section AS WELL as being intermingled in the regular sections. However the great majority of these wineries aren't afraid to put the "Made with Organic Grapes" label on the bottle (unlike a large number of other wineries). In Mendo.
Wine Store
Contrast this with the Oakville Grocery in Healdsburg (or their Napa brethren): I think I only found one organic selection (La Neblina Pinot Noir from Radio Coteau) when I stopped in on my way up north.
Shame on them. There are so many great producers to choose from.
The Corner Stores and Groceries
There's certainly a sinking feeling when you go into corner store in Hopland, for instance, and find the usual Gallo suspects - Barefoot, et al - and none of the local fare. We're in the Heartland of Organic Wine, people! Wake up! You want to sell local maps, crafts, and other doodahs - then why isn't the biggest agribusiness crop (wine) in the store?
Though the bigger shame belongs to the wine distribution system - for continuing to be controlled by distributors who only want to do business with the five top producers (Diageo, Gallo, Constellation, The Wine Group and Jackson) - none of whom offers an organic wine (except for two wines from Constellation's Sterling Vineyards, which offers a Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc, and Bronco's TJ exclusive Green Fin). Why build those big Safeways with the huge wine aisles, when there's no organic wine to choose from?
It's kind of like cable - hundreds of channels to choose from and yet, the Internet/Youtube/Netflix will win.
You'd think the altfood network, which was the first to step up to organic, would fill the slot for organic wines, and they are getting there, I suppose, but a lot more slowly than I would have imagined.
So that's it - you've had the trendspotting tour. We'll see what's to come.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Napa - Food, Yes; Wine, No
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| Only 7% of Napa County's grapes (and even fewer of its wines) are grown organically |
Organic Vineyards and Legal Liability: Case in Point
I was just recently talking to a vineyard manager who works for an organic management company, asking him what the biggest benefit of being organic was, in his opinion. He named a few of the usual reasons - soil health, longevity of the vines, and more - and then added liability to the list.
That was a new one for me.
So it shouldn't have come as a surprise to read this news story, only a few days later. Four vineyard workers were hospitalized July 5 after breathing pesticides in a 21-acre vineyard in Napa, according to the Napa County Sheriff's department, the story reported.
The department reported that the four workers, three of whom were women, had been exposed to three pesticides, including Altacor, commonly used against European grapevine moth.
The location given, the 4000 block of Big Ranch Road, is within a five mile radius of the center of Napa.
Ironically, just a month before the incident, the Napa Valley Register reported this upbeat story about how the county's grand jury released a report praising the Agricultural Commissioner's Office for its work on pesticides.
The 2009 figures represent a significant decline from what was seen in previous years, the report states.
The pound-per-acre measurement for pesticide use in the county’s vineyards also dipped over the past decade, moving from 73 pounds in 1999 to 34 pounds in 2009.
To explain the drop off in chemical use, the report credits Agricultural Commissioner Dave Whitmer’s efforts, as well as industry trends such as organic and sustainable farming."
While it would be nice to think that organic and sustainable farming was the answer, the truth is likely more complex. Pesticides don't weigh what they used to, so trying to evaluate pesticide use on the basis of weight is probably not very precise in terms of understanding public health impacts.
Only 7% of Napa is farmed organically, so that would not explain the decade-long reduction of more than a third of the pesticide tonnage.
What would would be a closer look at the weight of newer pesticides which are far lighter than their predecessors. According to industry experts, pesticides are more concentrated than they used to be.
One would hope that a responsible expert would be found who could say more about that, before the Napa grand jury starts to celebrate its rare and under-marketed organic vintners who suffer from a near total lack of visibility. (The Napa Valley Vintners doesn't really like to talk about organic, but does promote its own sustainability "program", which hypes what is already the law of the land. In fact, on the Napa Valley Vintners web site, for every winery that has certified organic vineyards, the word organic is never mentioned. The descriptions are all "sustainable.")
Does this story mark a first in crediting them with having an acknowledged, positive impact on public health?
More importantly does anyone know a good attorney I can speak to about workers and pesticide lawsuits ? There must be a history in the wine industry of this happening. And secondly, what happened to these workers? Does anyone know?
And while I applaud the progress made so far in reducing the most toxic pesticides used in the past (DDT, etc.), and the role of the Ag Commissioner in helping to further reduce pesticide use, the current situation of pesticide use in Napa is still very serious.
That was a new one for me.
So it shouldn't have come as a surprise to read this news story, only a few days later. Four vineyard workers were hospitalized July 5 after breathing pesticides in a 21-acre vineyard in Napa, according to the Napa County Sheriff's department, the story reported.
The department reported that the four workers, three of whom were women, had been exposed to three pesticides, including Altacor, commonly used against European grapevine moth.
The location given, the 4000 block of Big Ranch Road, is within a five mile radius of the center of Napa.
Ironically, just a month before the incident, the Napa Valley Register reported this upbeat story about how the county's grand jury released a report praising the Agricultural Commissioner's Office for its work on pesticides.
"In 2009, more than 1.54 million pounds of pesticides were administered across Napa County. Of that figure, 1.47 million pounds were applied to the county’s vineyards.
The 2009 figures represent a significant decline from what was seen in previous years, the report states.
In 1999, pesticide use in the county was just shy of 2.4 million pounds, with more than 90 percent ending up in Napa vineyards.
The pound-per-acre measurement for pesticide use in the county’s vineyards also dipped over the past decade, moving from 73 pounds in 1999 to 34 pounds in 2009.
To explain the drop off in chemical use, the report credits Agricultural Commissioner Dave Whitmer’s efforts, as well as industry trends such as organic and sustainable farming."
Only 7% of Napa is farmed organically, so that would not explain the decade-long reduction of more than a third of the pesticide tonnage.
What would would be a closer look at the weight of newer pesticides which are far lighter than their predecessors. According to industry experts, pesticides are more concentrated than they used to be.
One would hope that a responsible expert would be found who could say more about that, before the Napa grand jury starts to celebrate its rare and under-marketed organic vintners who suffer from a near total lack of visibility. (The Napa Valley Vintners doesn't really like to talk about organic, but does promote its own sustainability "program", which hypes what is already the law of the land. In fact, on the Napa Valley Vintners web site, for every winery that has certified organic vineyards, the word organic is never mentioned. The descriptions are all "sustainable.")
Does this story mark a first in crediting them with having an acknowledged, positive impact on public health?
More importantly does anyone know a good attorney I can speak to about workers and pesticide lawsuits ? There must be a history in the wine industry of this happening. And secondly, what happened to these workers? Does anyone know?
And while I applaud the progress made so far in reducing the most toxic pesticides used in the past (DDT, etc.), and the role of the Ag Commissioner in helping to further reduce pesticide use, the current situation of pesticide use in Napa is still very serious.
More Photos from DiRicco Vineyard on Elk Mountain, Lake County
See the story below for more details, but enjoy these photos of the Percheron horses at Dana DiRicco's vineyard.
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| Dana DiRicco's Percheron show horses help out at her organic Elk Mountain vineyard |
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| At harvest time, they pull the wagons in the vineyard |
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| In the winter months, they graze in the vineyard |
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| They are also show horses |
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| After being rescued from Canada, they seem to have a pretty good life on Elk Mountain |
Sunday, July 31, 2011
That "Any State But California" Appellation May Be 25% from Chile...China...
Did you know that up to 25% of a wine labeled from California may in fact be grapes from overseas?
"The power of the California wine industry has convinced BATF that up to 25 percent of a wine product can be imported and sold as American wine. That’s wrong," writes Harry Cline in Farm Press Blog.
Growers aren't liking it - nor should they.
Cline writes, "Although this year promises to be a good one for wine grapes, there is an uneasy feeling amid the prosperity. Growers have been close to a good year before, only to be left out in the cold by the state’s major wineries going offshore rather than paying California growers fair prices for their grapes." (Bolding mine). Just four wineries crush more than 65% of the grapes."
To be labeled California, 100% of the grapes must come from the state. But outside California, the law is different. Only 75% of the grapes must be from the U.S. Twenty five percent can be imported.
If wine is a food, and we insist that food imports be labeled as to country of origin, why is wine the exception?
NOTE: This article was revised and corrected on April 26, 2013.
"The power of the California wine industry has convinced BATF that up to 25 percent of a wine product can be imported and sold as American wine. That’s wrong," writes Harry Cline in Farm Press Blog.
Growers aren't liking it - nor should they.
Cline writes, "Although this year promises to be a good one for wine grapes, there is an uneasy feeling amid the prosperity. Growers have been close to a good year before, only to be left out in the cold by the state’s major wineries going offshore rather than paying California growers fair prices for their grapes." (Bolding mine). Just four wineries crush more than 65% of the grapes."
To be labeled California, 100% of the grapes must come from the state. But outside California, the law is different. Only 75% of the grapes must be from the U.S. Twenty five percent can be imported.
If wine is a food, and we insist that food imports be labeled as to country of origin, why is wine the exception?
NOTE: This article was revised and corrected on April 26, 2013.
Organic Grower Profile: Elk Mountain and DiRicco Vineyard - Dry Farmed with Percherons!
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| Tallman Inn |
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| Susan with Hagafen Riesling, Atascadero Creek SB |
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| Lake County Wine Studio |
So on a more recent trip, I went to visit Dana and her vineyard along with the Percheron draft horses she and her husband Dr. Glenn Benjamin, an exotic animal vet (he works at Safari West in Santa Rosa), rescued from Canada.
The two purchased the Elk Mountain property, which backs up against the wildlands of the Mendocino Forest, partly to house the rescue horses. A 26 acre vineyard just happened to come with the property. "We weren't looking for a vineyard," says DiRicco, who still owns an Alexander Valley cattle beef ranch.
But Dana's family, the DiRicco's, coincidentally had a long history of growing grapes and making wine in Sonoma for several generations. DiRicco originally meant "of the rich."
"My grandparents had a vineyard in Healdsburg, and were part of the Italian Swiss Colony era," she says. Her brother and her son-in-law are both in the wine business as well. The name DiRicco is well known from the generations of growers and winemakers. Even in the old country, DiRicco says, "my grandmother grew carnations which she sold to the cathedrals in Florence." Her Florentine relatives still live in same stone house in Tuscany.
But back to the horses...Back in the bad old days of the last decade, when Premarin, an estrogen replacement, was recommended for women, it turns out (I never knew this until talking to Dana) that mares were being inseminated just for the purpose of obtaining pregnant mare urine. Draft horses, including Percherons, were in high demand as they have bigger bladders and produce more urine. Brutally the babies were being killed after being born. After recent scientific studies cast doubt on the use of Premarin, thousands more horses were being killed as the whole urine industry came to a screeching halt.
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| Dana DiRicco went from rescuing Percheron horses to using them in the vineyard and showing them nationally. She now has a California state champion mare and is writing a book about the mare called And Then Came Hera. |
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| Windermere's Inferno is being bred with Dana's Hera |
She now has state grand champion mare, Hera, who also placed second in hitch riding in Calgary and Denver, the two main competitions in Percheron hitch competition.
Hera is now being bred with the world champion Windermere's Inferno to breed future show horses for Dana.
She also integrated them into the vineyard. In the fall and winter months, she grazes the horses in the vineyard after harvest and later uses them to spread manure to fertilize the fields.
"I got some antique manure spreaders and they pull them through the vineyards," she says. They also cut the hay with a hay rake. "We make them do some of the work - it's good exercise for them."
Dana has five vineyard-designated wines made from the vineyard - including two Sauvignon Blancs and two dessert wines. Atascadero Creek makes a Sauvignon Blanc as well as a late harvest Sauvignon Blanc and a red blend of some her port grapes. She's also sold grapes to Old World Winery which will be using both varietals in their wine.
She converted the vineyard to organic and got CCOF certification.
"I grew up in Sonoma County," Dana says, "and the creeks were alive. Now they are all dead. Here there is so much abundance of life - the bass, the frogs, blue herons, and great egrets, osprey...there are tons of wildlife." DiRicco says that the local mountain lion often suns himself on their patio. "A bear lives up the gully behind the pasture over there - we lose a few grapes every year to her and her cub."
She also raises honey and olive trees on the property and a few walnut trees.
"Northwest Lake County has the best farmland, soil and water," she says of the region. The Elk mountain area is also a quieter haven for country living.
DiRicco is now a CCOF inspector for vineyards all over Lake County as well as a board member of the Lake County Winegrape Commission. "Of the organic growers, we have almost every variety of grape," says DiRicco, "--cabernet, sauvignon blanc, merlot and more." As an inspector, she says she gets to meet "very nice people, conscientious farmers - so many beautiful ranches. And the people are the kind who like to live under the radar - courteous, helpful, polite."
I asked her why so many organic growers think that CCOF certification is too much paperwork or too expensive. "I don't understand how they can say that," DiRicco says. "You get 75% of the certification fees back from the U.S. government."
For instance, a grower her size, with 26+ acres, pays $1,000 in fees, but gets back $750 in refunds or a total of $250 to certify 26 acres - about $10 an acre.
(So the next time someone you ask about being certified organic tells you they're not certified, you might bring this up.)
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| U.S. House Rep. Mike Thompson |
He's driven home the wine industry's message that it's a $162 billion business that provides the equivalent of 1.1 million full time jobs. (I wonder what percentage of those are field workers.)
Other organic growers in the county include Steve Devoto, of Devoto Vineyards, whose family has large vineyard holdings. Devoto's father was a judge in Kelseyville. Devoto's grapes go into the Hagafen White Riesling, which is the other wine you can taste at the Lake County Wine Studio.
Catspaw Vineyard, run by Buz and Terry Dereniuk, is another organic vineyard.
While grapes are popular, they haven't taken over from older orchards to the extent that they have in Mendocino, Sonoma and Napa. The valley floor oaks of Napa are mostly gone, and the pear orchards in the Sanel Valley are few and far between, but in Lake County, the walnut orchards are still widespread.
"The walnuts have survived here because they are still a good, money producing crop," DiRicco says. She also says that Lake County's climate and biodiversity mean walnut trees don't have to be sprayed - or at least not much. "It cuts costs for the farmer not to spray," she says. "And why would they?"
Just then, Dana's tenant, Nick, who works as the bar manager at Blue Wings, drove up so I had a quick chat with him. He reminded me this used to be wine country before Prohibition as well. "Some of the oldest vines in the state are here," he says, of Lake County. "Those old Zinfandel vines on the Kelseyville bench - they were always grown organically."
Friday, July 29, 2011
Real Sunflowers for Girasole (which means sunflower in Italian)
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| Girasole Wines for sale at Whole Foods in Chicago |
Thanks to Martha at Barra of Mendocino/Girasole wines for forwarding the photo to me. And thanks to Whole Foods for carrying organically grown wines.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Chiarito Winery: Dry Farmed, Organic and...Nero d'Avola!
Last fall I went with friends to Rome. We were so happy to find a neighborhood enoteca (Cul de Sac) and to sample Real Italian Wines. Cul de Sac only has 1,500 different wines.
The first night we asked the waiter for a recommendation and he suggested a Sicilian wine. It was so good we ordered it every time we went back to Cul de Sac, which was quite a few times. The wine was a Nero d'Avola.
Imagine my intense pleasure, then, at finding a California, organic, dry farmed Nero d'Avola from Chiarito Winery - that is as good as it gets. I myself am not a sommelier-grade taster, but I hear that the pretty powerful palettes of the Talmage Tasters in Mendocino (a group of the area's vintners and at least one super sommelier type) did a Nero d'Avola blind tasting and ranked Chiarito's the best against native Sicilian counterparts.
Are we surprised?
Even famed Sicilian chef Giovanni Guarneri who has now become a friend of John Chiarito's, has Chiarito's Nero d'Avola on HIS wine list in his prestigious Sicilian restaurant, Ristorante Don Camillo.
John was the first to apply to the TTB to be able to label a wine Nero d'Avola in the U.S., as well as the first to petition for and bottle Negroamaro, another southern Italian varietal, which noooooooobody else grows here.
(With climate change, who knows what will happen - maybe Cab country Napa-ians will revert to unirrigated, dry farmed, organic vineyards, which is how it was before WW2. Napa's number one varietal used to be Petite Sirah in the 50's and 60's - only a generation or so back.)
John also grows Petite Sirah and Zinfandel. His Zin is the house red wine at Scopa's in Healdsburg.
You can read more about him at the MendoWine.com web site, too.
Alas to date, Chiarito is not certified organic (but is practicing). Only one more step to go...but I personally would run, not walk, to the winery or join his wine club to stock up.
And while you're at it, run by Diavola's in Geyserville and pick up a few pizzas...with some housemade charcuterie...and then pop that cork! Life is good.
The first night we asked the waiter for a recommendation and he suggested a Sicilian wine. It was so good we ordered it every time we went back to Cul de Sac, which was quite a few times. The wine was a Nero d'Avola.
Imagine my intense pleasure, then, at finding a California, organic, dry farmed Nero d'Avola from Chiarito Winery - that is as good as it gets. I myself am not a sommelier-grade taster, but I hear that the pretty powerful palettes of the Talmage Tasters in Mendocino (a group of the area's vintners and at least one super sommelier type) did a Nero d'Avola blind tasting and ranked Chiarito's the best against native Sicilian counterparts.
Are we surprised?
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| Ristorante Don Camillo in Siracusa, Sicily |
Even famed Sicilian chef Giovanni Guarneri who has now become a friend of John Chiarito's, has Chiarito's Nero d'Avola on HIS wine list in his prestigious Sicilian restaurant, Ristorante Don Camillo.John was the first to apply to the TTB to be able to label a wine Nero d'Avola in the U.S., as well as the first to petition for and bottle Negroamaro, another southern Italian varietal, which noooooooobody else grows here.
(With climate change, who knows what will happen - maybe Cab country Napa-ians will revert to unirrigated, dry farmed, organic vineyards, which is how it was before WW2. Napa's number one varietal used to be Petite Sirah in the 50's and 60's - only a generation or so back.)
John also grows Petite Sirah and Zinfandel. His Zin is the house red wine at Scopa's in Healdsburg.
You can read more about him at the MendoWine.com web site, too.
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| John Chiarito (center) talks with my friend Mark Taylor (left) about his vineyard site and dry farming practices |
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| Chiarito, a contractor when he isn't being a winemaker, built the winery, house and work rooms on his Talmage winery on a bench off of River Road |
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| Chiarito does all of the vineyard work and winemaking on the five acres of estate grapes; he also leases a few more acres on the other side of the valley. |
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| Remarkably, Chiarito says that even his baby vines are able to grow without water. |
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| What winery is complete these days without a pizza oven or a place to roast a pig...which is what they did last month at their annual wine club dinner with Healdsburg's Scopa chef Art Rosen cooking the main meal with Dina Diavola (of Geyserville) making pizzas |
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| The winery has gorgeous views looking across the valley |
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| So many things to like about Chiarito's traditional approach, but best of all (in my humble opinion) is his amazing Nero d'Avola, my new favorite wine. |
Alas to date, Chiarito is not certified organic (but is practicing). Only one more step to go...but I personally would run, not walk, to the winery or join his wine club to stock up.
And while you're at it, run by Diavola's in Geyserville and pick up a few pizzas...with some housemade charcuterie...and then pop that cork! Life is good.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Use Your Words - er, Numbers: Sustainability Grows Up (But Fast Enough?)
Sustainability programs are growing up. While practically every winery in the state says they're "sustainable", the term has become virtually meaningless, despite regional programs and the statewide California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA) program. (CSWA is a program of the Wine Institute and the California Association of Grape Growers). Meanwhile mass confusion reigns, as even a prominent wine blogger doesn't understand that sustainable is not necessarily organic.
And the stakes are getting higher as Walmart and other major retailers (Costco and Safeway, to name a few) ready their sustainability guidelines for wine. For now, Walmart in particular is in its initial stages of canvassing wine suppliers to understand the current landscape, but guidelines are expected to be created in the near term.
In addition, California's wine industry must also compete internationally against other countries' sustainability programs. For example, New Zealand has a goal of having 100% of their export wines certified sustainable by 2012.
California's wine grape growers and wine makers are not alone in having ineffectual terminology for sustainability. In many industries, large scale efforts to come up with across the board standards have failed. It's no one's fault - sustainability standards often are beset by regional differences, making state, national or international standards impractical. Yet suppliers and consumers want certifications that actually mean something.
The tide in the sustainability movement is getter more sophisticated, and moving more from practice-based standards towards performance and process metrics. California's wine industry is heading in this direction, too, as two industry spokespeople - Andrew Arnold of SureHarvest and Lisa Franconi of the CSWA - told the audience at the 3rd annual Ecowinegrowing Symposium July 19 in Hopland.
Although the Wine Institute is no EPA, the industry body is in fact responding to changes in the overall sustainability movement by launching new programs focused on more valuable information gathering and reporting. It's not mandating standards but it is moving in the direction of measuring steps that participating wineries want to measure in terms of progress.
Performance Metrics Index Initiative with SureHarvest
One initiative is a new performance metrics index. Andrew Arnold, Sure Harvest's program manager for professional services, said the CSWA has partnered with SureHarvest to develop a metrics based program that will launch this fall as part of the CSWA's ongoing self-assessment program.
SureHarvest works with a large variety of agri-food industries to measure sustainability, including almonds and pears.
One of the big drivers for adoption of sustainability programs has been the potential to receive credit for ecosystem services, an area which could represent a new vineyard profit center, Arnold said. Arnold showed the conference participants a variety of new programs based on rewarding farmers for valuing ecosystem services provided on their land, citing the USDA's newly opened Office of Environmental Markets, the Chicago Climate Exchange (now defunct), the Florida Ranchlands Environmental Services Program, the Williamette Partnership, and other pay-for-performance programs.
Examples of services provided range from reducing nutrient runoff into watersheds, to improving water quality, to increasing soil health through cover cropping. In vineyards specifically, Arnold said wine grape growers could be rewarded with payments for improving water quality, reducing nutrient runoff, and offsets for carbon and biodiversity.
Additionally, Arnold said, Ann Thrupp, director of sustainability at Fetzer/Bonterra, and Louise Jackson at U.C. Davis have also been looking at carbon mass (vegetation beyond the cultivated vineyard landscape) for its potential in carbon offset credits for vineyards. That would include the trees on vineyard hillsides, for example. Other research is looking at no till or minimal till projects and cover crop offset potential as well as credits for insectiaries, buffer areas, riparian restoration and composting, Arnold said.
The CSWA performance metrics project is scheduled to launch after this year's harvest in the fall when the company's Sustainability MIS will be rolled out to SWGA participants. It is slated to measure water, energy (and associated GhG emissions) and nitrogen inputs.
Wine Institute's New Process-Oriented Approach to Certification
Meanwhile the CSWA's certification track program (separate from the self assessement program) is moving towards a process based certification, said Lisa Franconi, program manager for CSWA.
Franconi presented a history of sustainability programs in the wine industry beginning in the 1950's with a U.C. Davis paper on Integrated Pest Management (IPM), followed by regional programs like Lodi Rules, and SIP.
CSWA, a statewide initiative, originally began in 2002 as a self assessment tool which awarded points based on practices and facilities. Though the CSWA says the tool was developed by a committee of growers and vintners representing a variety of sizes of organizations, small wineries have charged that the tool is weighted in favor of the largest wine corporations, including Gallo, Diageo, and others, who make about 80% of the wine from California and are the majority of the Wine Institute's leadership.
Smaller wineries have complained that the points system in the current CSWA self assessment program was rigged against them (since they did not have huge facilities and costly high tech equipment that qualified for high points in the current system).
In 2010, CSWA launched a certification program, California Certified Sustainable Winegrowing (CCSW) that measures continuous process improvement, rather than a specific set of standards or practices.
The new certification program adds a process-based requirement to the certification track concentrating on constantly improving performance over time. The new program uses auditors to monitor progress on goals each vineyard or winery's self-directed improvement plan. Lisa Franconi said that a certified vineyard or winery would set goals for the coming year and then an auditor would audit vineyard or winery to monitor progress.
Process-based certification, Franconi said, mirrors the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 14000 approach of letting businesses design improvement plans for themselves and then having a third party audit monitor their progress.
"The program lets individual wineries pick their targets and then meet them in order to retain certification. It's also a continuous process. There is no end, no point at which the process of improvement ends," said Franconi.
The CSWA has accredited 20 auditors throughout the state with environmental management backgrounds and auditing experience, she said. The program is open to anyone and the auditing and inspection costs are determined by the size of the operation.
The Bottom Line
Like other industries, it's likely that the CSWA program will encourage wineries to start implementing sustainability measures that impact the bottom line - saving money through waste reduction and energy and water conservation - but less likely to impact overall quality improvement like the ecosystem services marketplace work that Sure Harvest discussed.
The two approaches seem to be complementary. One is a gentle, self-inflicted stick (both CSWA's assessment and certification programs) and the other a tangible carrot (getting paid for ecosystem services - if and when that becomes a reality).
It's nice to see a one-two punch approach to the daunting issues facing California's wine industry and its use of natural resources. But is the industry moving fast enough?
No one at the conference discussed the ecosystem benefits they already receive [from Mother Nature] - or the rate at which they are being depleted. This a topic of great discussion elsewhere - especially from figures like Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki, and Natural Capital authors Amory and Hunter Lovins and Paul Hawken. And even at Walmart.
Sustainability expert Tom Miller, the former CEO of Blu Skye Consulting, whose leadership role in Walmart's sustainability efforts is chronicled in the book Force of Nature: The Unlikely Story of Walmart's Green Revolution (by Edward Humes), was alarmed when he and his team did the math in 2010 to update work done in the 1990's by Robert Costanza in valuing natural capital. Miller's team came up with estimates that the overall global services amounted to about $72 trillion. Unfortunately, according to his team (the story is told in Humes' book), ecosystem services were being used up at a rate of $2 to 5 trillion a year. Humes writes:
Which in a backhand sort of way brings us also to the subject of Walmart - the (unacknowledged) gorilla - in the room. It's Walmart's sustainability programs that are creating the high-level awareness that change is in the air - catalyzing a tipping point.
But Humes' book shows us that other industries are moving faster, with greater visionary energy than California's wine industry. Take the dairy industry in New York, for example. Dairy farmers aren't exactly known for their innovation but the Dairyville 2020 project, chronicled in Force of Nature, looks to be pretty interesting and is a daring example of basically redesigning an industry from within.
Would that California's wineries would sit down in a room and get that kind of vision and support to dive deep into the changes that are necessary for their industry to continue. As much as growers and wineries think about longevity, their industry is lagging far behind the kind of accelerated, visionary action plan required to save their vineyards.
As Jeanne Merrill, Policy Director at CalCAN showed meeting participants, a recent Stanford study predicts that if temperatures rise 2 degrees by 2040 (a conservative estimate, according to the Stanford researchers), the amount of land where pinot and cabernet could be grown would decrease 20-50%. But that's unlikely to propel action. Walmart's new programs are a likely bigger catalyst for the next chapter in the wine industry's sustainability focus. But the wine industry could - and should - do much more.
And the stakes are getting higher as Walmart and other major retailers (Costco and Safeway, to name a few) ready their sustainability guidelines for wine. For now, Walmart in particular is in its initial stages of canvassing wine suppliers to understand the current landscape, but guidelines are expected to be created in the near term.
In addition, California's wine industry must also compete internationally against other countries' sustainability programs. For example, New Zealand has a goal of having 100% of their export wines certified sustainable by 2012.
The tide in the sustainability movement is getter more sophisticated, and moving more from practice-based standards towards performance and process metrics. California's wine industry is heading in this direction, too, as two industry spokespeople - Andrew Arnold of SureHarvest and Lisa Franconi of the CSWA - told the audience at the 3rd annual Ecowinegrowing Symposium July 19 in Hopland.
Although the Wine Institute is no EPA, the industry body is in fact responding to changes in the overall sustainability movement by launching new programs focused on more valuable information gathering and reporting. It's not mandating standards but it is moving in the direction of measuring steps that participating wineries want to measure in terms of progress.
Performance Metrics Index Initiative with SureHarvest
One initiative is a new performance metrics index. Andrew Arnold, Sure Harvest's program manager for professional services, said the CSWA has partnered with SureHarvest to develop a metrics based program that will launch this fall as part of the CSWA's ongoing self-assessment program.
SureHarvest works with a large variety of agri-food industries to measure sustainability, including almonds and pears.
One of the big drivers for adoption of sustainability programs has been the potential to receive credit for ecosystem services, an area which could represent a new vineyard profit center, Arnold said. Arnold showed the conference participants a variety of new programs based on rewarding farmers for valuing ecosystem services provided on their land, citing the USDA's newly opened Office of Environmental Markets, the Chicago Climate Exchange (now defunct), the Florida Ranchlands Environmental Services Program, the Williamette Partnership, and other pay-for-performance programs.
Examples of services provided range from reducing nutrient runoff into watersheds, to improving water quality, to increasing soil health through cover cropping. In vineyards specifically, Arnold said wine grape growers could be rewarded with payments for improving water quality, reducing nutrient runoff, and offsets for carbon and biodiversity.
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| Andrew Arnold of Sure Harvest shows a variety of ways vineyards could be paid for environmental services in emerging environmental services markets, in a new program that will launch this fall in California (click on photo to see larger image) |
The CSWA performance metrics project is scheduled to launch after this year's harvest in the fall when the company's Sustainability MIS will be rolled out to SWGA participants. It is slated to measure water, energy (and associated GhG emissions) and nitrogen inputs.
Wine Institute's New Process-Oriented Approach to Certification
Meanwhile the CSWA's certification track program (separate from the self assessement program) is moving towards a process based certification, said Lisa Franconi, program manager for CSWA.
Franconi presented a history of sustainability programs in the wine industry beginning in the 1950's with a U.C. Davis paper on Integrated Pest Management (IPM), followed by regional programs like Lodi Rules, and SIP.
CSWA, a statewide initiative, originally began in 2002 as a self assessment tool which awarded points based on practices and facilities. Though the CSWA says the tool was developed by a committee of growers and vintners representing a variety of sizes of organizations, small wineries have charged that the tool is weighted in favor of the largest wine corporations, including Gallo, Diageo, and others, who make about 80% of the wine from California and are the majority of the Wine Institute's leadership.
Smaller wineries have complained that the points system in the current CSWA self assessment program was rigged against them (since they did not have huge facilities and costly high tech equipment that qualified for high points in the current system).
In 2010, CSWA launched a certification program, California Certified Sustainable Winegrowing (CCSW) that measures continuous process improvement, rather than a specific set of standards or practices.
The new certification program adds a process-based requirement to the certification track concentrating on constantly improving performance over time. The new program uses auditors to monitor progress on goals each vineyard or winery's self-directed improvement plan. Lisa Franconi said that a certified vineyard or winery would set goals for the coming year and then an auditor would audit vineyard or winery to monitor progress.
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| Lisa Franconi, program manager of the Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (click on photo to see larger image) |
"The program lets individual wineries pick their targets and then meet them in order to retain certification. It's also a continuous process. There is no end, no point at which the process of improvement ends," said Franconi.
The CSWA has accredited 20 auditors throughout the state with environmental management backgrounds and auditing experience, she said. The program is open to anyone and the auditing and inspection costs are determined by the size of the operation.
Like other industries, it's likely that the CSWA program will encourage wineries to start implementing sustainability measures that impact the bottom line - saving money through waste reduction and energy and water conservation - but less likely to impact overall quality improvement like the ecosystem services marketplace work that Sure Harvest discussed.
The two approaches seem to be complementary. One is a gentle, self-inflicted stick (both CSWA's assessment and certification programs) and the other a tangible carrot (getting paid for ecosystem services - if and when that becomes a reality).
It's nice to see a one-two punch approach to the daunting issues facing California's wine industry and its use of natural resources. But is the industry moving fast enough?
Sustainability expert Tom Miller, the former CEO of Blu Skye Consulting, whose leadership role in Walmart's sustainability efforts is chronicled in the book Force of Nature: The Unlikely Story of Walmart's Green Revolution (by Edward Humes), was alarmed when he and his team did the math in 2010 to update work done in the 1990's by Robert Costanza in valuing natural capital. Miller's team came up with estimates that the overall global services amounted to about $72 trillion. Unfortunately, according to his team (the story is told in Humes' book), ecosystem services were being used up at a rate of $2 to 5 trillion a year. Humes writes:
"At that rate factoring in the current growth in population and manufacturing set against nature's innate ability to replenish itself, the world's natural capital - fresh air, fresh water, all the other things we depend upon - will be depleted by the year 2046. Unless there is a profound change in the way we do business, Miller says, the natural economy will collapse..."
Which in a backhand sort of way brings us also to the subject of Walmart - the (unacknowledged) gorilla - in the room. It's Walmart's sustainability programs that are creating the high-level awareness that change is in the air - catalyzing a tipping point.
But Humes' book shows us that other industries are moving faster, with greater visionary energy than California's wine industry. Take the dairy industry in New York, for example. Dairy farmers aren't exactly known for their innovation but the Dairyville 2020 project, chronicled in Force of Nature, looks to be pretty interesting and is a daring example of basically redesigning an industry from within.
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| Jeanne Merrill, Policy Director at CalCAN (click to see larger) |
As Jeanne Merrill, Policy Director at CalCAN showed meeting participants, a recent Stanford study predicts that if temperatures rise 2 degrees by 2040 (a conservative estimate, according to the Stanford researchers), the amount of land where pinot and cabernet could be grown would decrease 20-50%. But that's unlikely to propel action. Walmart's new programs are a likely bigger catalyst for the next chapter in the wine industry's sustainability focus. But the wine industry could - and should - do much more.
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