国产吃瓜黑料

GET MORE WITH OUTSIDE+

Enjoy 35% off GOES, your essential outdoor guide

UPGRADE TODAY

What's red or white and green at the same time?
What's red or white and green at the same time? (Photo: Nathaniel Wilder/Tandem)

Why You Should Drink Organic Wine

It鈥檚 good for the planet and might even lessen your hangover. That鈥檚 something we鈥檒l drink to.

Published: 
What's red or white and green at the same time?
(Photo: Nathaniel Wilder/Tandem)

New perk: Easily find new routes and hidden gems, upcoming running events, and more near you. Your weekly Local Running Newsletter has everything you need to lace up! .

It鈥檚 a commonly held belief that going green costs some green. But in the wine business, the payoff is huge,聽in a number of ways.

The organic wine industry in the U.S. is still surprisingly small. According to data from the say that at least some of their food is organic. Yet a in the industry magazine Wines and Vines聽revealed that聽organic wines make up just 1聽percent of U.S. sales. This is changing, though, as the demand for organic wines grows rapidly, in large part thanks to millennials, who want organic products. It鈥檚 also because聽organic wines taste聽better聽than ever. A published in The Journal of Wine Economics found that sustainable and organic wines scored on average 4.1 points higher than traditionally grown equivalents聽in taste tests.

Besides tasting better, green wine may be a smarter business venture, too. A 聽carried out聽by researchers at North Carolina State University and published in Organization and聽Environment found that wineries that had adopted聽sustainable practices, like managing irrigation and enhancing soil conservation, performed better financially.

Meanwhile, wineries embracing sustainability may be better positioned to survive climate change. Gregory Jones, director of the Center for Wine Education at Linfield College, in Oregon, is warning vintners that rising global temperatures will mess with everything from sugar and phenol contents (naturally occurring compounds that affect grape flavor) to early frosts and late-summer droughts. 鈥淕rapes are a narrow, specialty crop that are really prone to changes in climate,鈥 he said .

Silver Oak bills itself as the greenest winery in the nation. Its new facility in Sonoma, California, is LEED Platinum certified, as well as聽net neutral for energy and water usage. 鈥淕oing green definitely drives profitability on a few levels,鈥 CEO David Duncan says, reiterating that wine鈥檚 largest market is sustainable-hungry millennials. 鈥淪ustainability is all about efficiency, and so the green elements you put in place lead to more cost-effective use of resources, as well as making you look at your overall operations through this lens.鈥

Silver Oak's vineyard.
Silver Oak's vineyard. (Sara Sanger/Silver Oak)

Plus, organic wine may lessen your post-toast headaches鈥攂ut not for the reason you think. 聽

No one is really sure what exactly causes red-wine headaches鈥攁 of the research published in the (aptly named) journal Headache found that it鈥檚 likely a chorus of factors like tannins, dehydration from alcohol, and sugar. But R.J. Judalena, who聽with his wife, Patti, co-owns , an all-organic and sustainable store in Excelsior, Minnesota, has another theory. He聽thinks that conventional red wine may end up with chemical residues from pesticides and herbicides聽like glyphosate. 鈥淭o make red wine, you let the juice sit on the skin of the grape,鈥 he says. 鈥淲here are the chemicals? On the skin. These are not hermetically sealed packages.鈥 He may be onto something. A in Food Additives and Contaminates found glyphosate residue in the wines it tested.

Finally, in case you needed one more reason: Judalena, who is currently studying with the esteemed聽Court of Master Sommeliers, swears that organic wine tastes better.

Oh, and by the way, don鈥檛 get too tripped up on labels. American wines are often labeled sustainable, organic, or biodynamic (which means the wine is grown both organically and as part of a biome, using insects likes worms and bees to enrich the vineyard). They鈥檙e all much planet-friendlier than conventional wine. Overseas, each country has its own standards. Look for indications of green practices on the label, or google the vineyard to see what鈥檚 really up.

Here are Judalena鈥檚 favorite sustainable bottles at the moment.

Domaine Rouge Bleu Mistral Red Blend ($23.99)

(Courtesy Domaine Rouge Bleu)

A traditional Rh么ne blend of Grenache, syrah, Mourv猫dre, and roussanne, 鈥淚t鈥檚 an easy, easy French wine to obtain, but also easy to 鈥榞et鈥 when you鈥檙e drinking it. You don鈥檛 have to think too much about it to enjoy it,鈥 says Judalena. The vineyard uses biodynamic growing principles, and pairs well with cheese, chocolate, or meaty main courses.

Paolo Scavino Barolo ($49.99)

(Courtesy Paolo Scavino)

鈥淚f you want dark, inky red wine with the most glorious tannins that will massage your mouth, ,鈥 Judalena says about this Italian pick. 鈥淚t鈥檚 stunning. If you鈥檙e doing anything really rich, like caviar, or really heavy meat, like fresh venison, it would be the perfect pair.鈥

Caduceus Cellars Primer Paso聽($56.99)

(Courtesy Caduceus Cellars)

Judalena usually avoids wineries run聽by celebrities, but he broke his rule for . Owned by Maynard James Keenan, former lead singer for the band Tool, Judalena says, 鈥淗e鈥檚 a skilled winemaker. This blend is similar to a Left Bank Bordeaux blend.鈥 Minus the carbon footprint of a transatlantic flight.

The Fableist Chardonnay ($21.99)

(Courtesy The Fableist Wine Company)

Made with 100 percent chardonnay grapes, Judalena says this California winery鈥檚 Paso Robles zip code helps it create great wines at lower-than-Napa prices. It鈥檚 a 鈥攑erfect for an alfresco summer meal.

Popular on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online