Move over Martha Stewart and Tipper Gore: it’s Friday, and you’re about to throw a sustainable dinner party worthy of Gourmet Magazine (if you do say so yourself!). There’s the 100-mile menu made up of organic veggies and Ocean Wise seafood, cloth napkins, beeswax candles, and even Earth-friendly cleaning products for when you have to do the dishes (drat, there goes the Gourmet fantasy). But wait, what about the wine?
Going green in the world of vino means more than just using organic grapes. As wine is shipped around the world, finding ways to lighten the carbon footprint of transport and reducing packaging are essential, too.
Luckily, when it comes to finding great wine that’s good to the Earth—whether it’s organic, sustainably or locally grown, or in eco-friendly packaging—there are now plenty of options to ensure you and your guests can drink to your health and the planet’s. Here are a few of our favourites.
Wellbrook Winery Blueberry Wine (750 ml, $12.90)
Local: Yes (Delta)
Organic: Almost. While awaiting organic certification, Wellbrook gets top marks for using eco-friendly farming methods (including hand-weeding, hand-watering, and the use of hand tools instead of machinery).
Packaging: Glass
Details: Even though the bottle is recyclable, the packaging weighs more than the product—and thus produces a greater amount of greenhouse gas emissions in manufacturing, transportation, and recycling, compared to other packaging options.
Blue Box friendly: Yes
Bonus points: Blueberry wine is high in resveratrol (the antioxidant, anti-cancer, and cholesterol-lowering compound found in red wine) and, like all berry wines, is low in headache-causing histamines.
wellbrookwinery.com
Garry Oaks Pinot Gris
(750 ml, $23.99)
Local: Yes (Salt Spring Island)
Organic: No. However, the winery has registered a comprehensive plan under the B.C. Environmental Farm Plan Program.
Packaging: Glass
Details: The packaging weighs more than the product (see Wellbrook).
Blue Box friendly: Yes, and the natural cork can be composted.
Bonus points: Garry Oaks employs organic practices such as large-scale mulching and composting that converts by-products (such as mowings, prunings, and pomace) into nutrient-rich material for enhancing the soil, and only uses fertilizers made from mined minerals and peat.
garryoakswine.com
Cheviot Bridge
Thirsty Lizard Shiraz
(1 L, $13.99)
Local: No (Australia)
Organic: No
Packaging: Tetra Pak (aka B-Pak)
Details: Made predominantly from paper (74 per cent), polyethylene plastic (22 per cent), and aluminum foil (4 per cent). Reducing packaging waste by 90 per cent and greenhouse gas emissions by 75 per cent, Tetra Paks require the lowest total energy output of all wine packaging.
Blue Box friendly: No, but can be recycled at any BC Liquor Store or authorized Return-It Depot (see encorp.ca for locations).
Bonus points: The quality of the wine is equal to that of bottled wines. The cost of the one-litre Tetra Pak is the same as a 750-ml glass bottle—savings for your pocketbook and the planet.
cheviotbridge.com.au
Lotusland Enigma
(750 ml, $21.90)
Local: Yes (Fraser Valley)
Organic: Yes. All Lotusland wines are made with local, organically grown fruit.
Packaging: Glass
Details: The packaging weighs more than the product (see Wellbrook).
Blue Box friendly: Yes, both the bottle and the screw-off cap. You can also return the bottle for deposit at any BC Liquor Store.
Bonus points: Lotusland redesigned its trellis system to reduce trips through the vineyard by 60 per cent, allowing the production of more fruit using significantly less labour and tractor time, and therefore less fuel. With the winery 11 feet underground to stabilize the temperature throughout the year, associated electricity and natural gas consumption have also been reduced.
lotuslandvineyards.com
Summerhill Pinot Gris
(750 ml, $18.95)
Local: Yes (Kelowna)
Organic: Yes
Packaging: Glass
Details: The packaging weighs more than the product (see Wellbrook).
Blue Box friendly: Yes, or return for deposit at any BC Liquor Store.
Bonus points: Summerhill, Canada’s largest certified-organic vineyard, adds glacier rock dust to the vineyard’s soil to provide trace minerals for a healthier wine, and ages its vinos in a pyramid wine cellar. The sacred geometry of the pyramid is said to have positive, flavour-enhancing effects.
summerhill.bc.ca
Pentâge Pinot Gris
(3 L, $67.80)
Local: Yes (Penticton)
Organic: No
Packaging: Plastic bag in cardboard box
Details: The bag-in-box takes less energy to produce than bottles, and can be transported at a fraction of the weight, shipping expenses, and greenhouse gas emissions. One box is 38 per cent lighter than the equivalent of four 750-ml glass wine bottles.
Blue Box friendly: Yes, both the bag and the box.
Bonus points: The winery is creating a 4,000-square-foot wine cellar from natural rock, which will eliminate the need for a temperature regulation system in its winemaking facilities.
pentage.com
Boisset Yellow Jersey Chardonnay
(750 ml, $14.95)
Local: No (France)
Organic: No
Packaging: PET (polyethylene terephthalate), a lightweight plastic
Details: PET bottles can be recycled into textile fibres for carpet, pillows, or polyester clothing. (26 recycled PET bottles can create an entire polyester suit!) PET packaging reduces waste by 90 per cent and, because of its low weight, conserves fuel and reduces greenhouse gas emissions during transport.
Blue Box friendly: Only the screw-off cap, but the bottle can be recycled at any BC Liquor Store or authorized Return-It Depot (see encorp.ca for locations).
Bonus points: PET plastic bottles are made with MonOxbar, an oxygen “scavenger” that protects the wine from oxidation (which changes its taste, aroma, and colour).
boisset.com
