In today’s wonderful world of wine, you may hear terms thrown around to market products, such as organic, biodynamic, or sustainable. Though some of these concepts overlap, let’s focus on one that is gaining more and more traction – sustainable.
What exactly does it mean for a wine to be sustainable, and why does it matter?
While organic wines focus on not adding or not using synthetic pesticides from the vineyard, sustainable wine production focuses more on the bigger picture. Vineyards that follow sustainable practices recognize the unique landscape of their region and implement strategies to promote the health and vitality of the earth, air, and water where the grapes are grown. In other words, instead of just taking from the land, they give back and make sure it’s around for years to come.
One winery in New Zealand, Yealands, started this practice way back in 2008 and has earned over 1700 sustainability awards and accolades. From their website, they focus on being nature-positive and carbon-positive to create their biodiverse wines. This is accomplished using numerous methods, including solar panels, generating energy by burning old pieces of pruned vines, using wind turbines, planting cover crops between the rows of vines, and using sheep to help control grass and weeds between the rows of vines (and that’s not even the entire list! Click here to learn more.)
Ready to add sustainable wines to your shopping list (and make Captain Planet proud?) Our favorite Yealands bottles are in store for you to try, including their Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc (a best seller), and new to our shelves, their lighter Sauvignon Blanc. The lighter version was intentionally produced with less sugar and lower alcohol content.
We also carry other sustainable wines from Long Meadow Ranch, The Dreaming Tree, Hahn, and Alexander Valley, to name a few.
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