Sustainable White

I don't know enough about wine to talk in depth about subtle notes, aging, types of grapes, and regions, but I do know enough (and try enough of them) to know when I like something-or don't.

After I bought my first bottle of sustainable wine, I did a little poking around on the internet about organic wine. My conclusion is this: to meet the rigorous standards of a "certified organic" label there are many factors to adhere to. While a winery may be in accordance with most of these, the nature/process of making wine may break a few strict organic laws. While some wines may indeed be certified organic the missing process that has been excluded results in a less favorable wine. However, there are wineries that are sustainable and green and not organic. They produce their own energy, do not use pesticides, rotate their crops, etc. just like an organic farm would. In fact you can find some wines that will say they are made with organic grapes-only then they are processed into wine which is an inorganic process by nature (by the addition of sulfites or some such thing-I'm not a vintner but that's the gist of it). My conclusion is, that wines that are made from organic grapes, or produced from sustainable farms are in my mind green. And so, I will do my best to seek these wines out and do the hard work of tasting them for you! You can thank me later.

Back to Sustainable White. First of all, what a bargain at $9.99 a bottle! This was the first sustainable thing I bought that was less expensive than the item I would normally buy (which would be a bottle of wine usually $15-$20 on sale for $10-$14). It is produced in California and the label describes as the winery as "Locally owned and operated, grapes from family farms, sustainable farming practices, 100% green power, earth-friendly packaging, and 1st carbon neutral winery." After searching the shelves for about 10min-and I'm usually finished in 2min-I was sold. It doesn't say organic, but I'm OK with that. They're doing something right. Alright! I can hear you screaming, "Is it any good?" The truth? It is crisp, clean, light, fruity (dare I say notes of green apple and peach) with just the right tinge of acidity but yet enough sweet twinklings to keep you interested without really realizing it's there. Yes it's good! I'll buy it again! Maybe tomorrow night with some sushi! I really wanted to like this affordable, sustainable wine but thought there would be some catch. But you know what? I genuinely do like it. So far, so good.