Winemakers have become more environmentally friendly in their growing, crop management and harvesting using sustainable, organic and biodynamic practices. According to the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, 60 percent of California's case production and 40 percent of the acres under vine had self-identified as at least sustainable. The Alliance doesn't offer an official certification, but the number show that being "green" is important to a lot of winemakers.
Organic and biodynamic practices are the most labor-intensive, eco-friendly techniques. Certified organic wines don’t use chemical pest controls and fertilizers. Natural solutions for pest control are used more frequently than conventional winemaking.
Biodynamic practices are even more labor-intensive, with animal and plant byproducts used on the vines (manure in a cow horn buried on the land and tea made from nettles are a couple of examples) and attention to things as esoteric as the moon phases in relation to planting and harvesting. Some winemakers use a combination of all techniques. Organic and biodynamic certifications (offered at the state, national and global level) may elude them, but they like having the freedom to do what they think is best for the wine.
Keeping Wine Safe Close to Home
Andrea Immer Robinson, one of the few female master sommeliers in the world, says that winemakers are more conscientious about how they tend their vines since their families often live among the grapes.
“There are vineyards across the street from where my son plays Little League,” said Napa resident Robinson in a 2007 Star-Ledger story. Robinson rose to professional prominence at Windows on the World and is now consulting with Delta Airlines on their premium-class wine program. ``The winemakers' kids play in their vines and on the field. They want their families to be safe.”
Robinson has included one sustainable wine from Wente Vineyards in her Delta selections. Most wines she chooses are sustainably farmed and some are pursuing organic certification.
"Green Wine" on the Shelf
Gary Fische, owner of Gary’s Wine and Marketplace with locations in Madison, Bernardsville and Wayne, New Jersey, stocks what he calls “environmentally friendly” wines, which includes biodynamic, organic and sustainable vintners.
“Our question has been how do we get that message to our guests,” Fische told the Star-Ledger in a 2007 interview. “Shortly, we’ll be introducing a new simple shelf talker (a card near a wine selection that offers information) attached to any wine that is environmentally friendly — like a green tag.”
Fische is certain that most consumers can’t parse the difference between sustainable, organic and biodynamic wines but he says they are asking more about the origins of what they’re drinking.
“I think consumers are starting to become more aware. It’s not like in the food market where there are big signs saying ‘organic’ next to the produce. You’ll buy a pear and that pear goes directly into your mouth. With wine, the grapes go through fermentation, so the end product you’re tasting has not been directly touched by chemicals.”
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