There are no two ways around it – this is a competitive, global industry. Behind the smiles of the tasting room is a business fighting for shelf space and the attention of their distributor. Take away the label and the name, and there is little to differentiate one ordinary wine from another. So how does one winery distinguish itself from the one down the road and a thousand others selling the same thing? Nowadays, it is their attitude towards the environment. Being progressive and “green” is the hottest thing since the cork closure. But what does this mean for a winery? You’d be surprised at the lengths we go to.
The type of eco-awareness the wine industry focuses on depends on the price point of the wine. Larger producers making value-oriented wine are concerned about more practical matters such as energy consumption and waste management, both legitimate concerns to any manufacturing endeavor. Smaller, high-end producers seem to focus more on an intangible element of “sustainability.” It is this latter element that really has the industry in a frenzy.
Grape production and winemaking have never been particularly destructive activities. Grapes are finicky enough to demand that the vineyard always remains in a healthy state. The largest concerns in viticulture are erosion and waste-water run-off. Erosion is consequence of the initial planting where the bulk of the indigenous vegetation is removed. And a vineyard, like any other agricultural activity, involves the use of pesticides that will inevitably find its way into the surrounding landscape. These concerns, though, are minimized in small operations where farming is a more hands-on effort and where stewardship of the land is a high priority.
Cellar activities are even more benign. Besides the initial energy-intensive processes to turn clusters of grapes into juice, winemaking involves more elbow grease than carbon consumption. An exception to this rule is the production of oak barrels. While more American wineries are becoming aware of the qualities of domestically coopered barrels, the preference among high-end wineries is still for the European variety, where the oak is sourced from as far away as Ukraine. Other concerns involve the energy required to gather all the components for bottling. Glass bottles must be trucked in from Mexico, corks are put on a boat and make the journey from Portugal, and tin capsules from Spain. Afterwards, the wine is transported using old-fashion, diesel powered trucks. These are the issues facing every winery in the country.
Some producers have adopted a creed of “sustainability.” This is a source of endless confusion in the wine industry. What does this entail and who should be the arbiters of its execution? That hasn’t been worked out yet. Often, those who tout sustainability farm their grapes organically, which limits the use of synthetic chemicals in vineyard. This is a noble pursuit, provided it is feasible in the first place. Wine-grape production on the east coast would not be such an instance. In the dry, relatively disease-pressure free confines of California this is a hot topic because it could potentially be adopted by anyone willing to go to the effort and expense. Are wines made from organic grapes more healthy or higher in quality than those farmed conventionally? The jury is still out on that too. Nevertheless, the marketing power of “organically farmed grapes” is enormous. Why? Partly because this declaration capitalizes on the indefinable mystique of fine wine production that has captivated some connoisseurs.
Organically grown grapes are more difficult to grow than conventionally farmed grapes. It requires more focus and hands-on attention in the vineyard. This is what hooks some wine buyers. But this kind of attention may have nothing to do with the factors that contribute to fine wine. More attention in the vineyard and the cellar does generally result in higher quality wines. But we have to be careful not to justify the means because the outcome is favorable. I could dance around a maypole in the vineyard at summer solstice. Such attention and focus would usually accompany tried and true methods. But no reasonable person would claim that my dancing had anything to do with the quality of grapes at harvest time. But such is the nature of the intangible, there will always be believers.
The eco-revolution has spawned a “greener than thou” attitude in this industry. To some, organic farming focuses only on the physical and fails to harness other, less worldly, powers. These souls promote biodynamic farming. This is the brainchild of Rudolph Steiner, a philosopher of sorts, devised in the 1920s. Biodynamic farming requires the farm to be essentially self sufficient, in which outside inputs are minimized. While adopting the tenets of organic agriculture, biodynamic farms are believed to be connected to cosmic forces, which if not fully realized, detracts from the health of the farm. The specific elements of biodynamic farming are, to put it mildly, unconventional and aren’t advertised to the lay public. This is telling, and the assumption is that there is marketing value with the term that would be undermined by a widespread understanding of its peculiarities.
When judging the eco-awareness of any business, it is helpful to look at the big picture. The biodynamic wine from France may appear “green” but how much fossil fuel did it take to get it into your hands? Was the organic wine from California packaged in a glass bottle and sealed with a cork and capsule? How important is that to you as a customer? The voices behind the marketing must be tempered with these realities and what responsible stewards of the land have always done.
Let me suggest a compromise that preserves the tradition and ceremony of wine while limiting its impact on the environment: buy local. A full case of wine weighs about 48 pounds; it takes a lot of energy to truck it across the country. And unless that truck is powered by wind, sunlight, or willpower, freight is the largest factor in that bottle’s carbon footprint. And with Virginia’s wine making an impact on critics and connoisseurs, fine wine doesn’t have to be a choice between quality and the environment anymore.
Rappahannock Cellars’ sustainable practices in the vineyard
- Jason
Vintner of Rappahannock Cellars
