At the Green Festival, a joint project by Green America and Global Exchange, I happened upon the Beer and Wine garden. I was able to get a little background on organic wines and production by speaking with a few of the winemakers. I also happily tried a few of their offerings.
If you are a green bride or groom, you may be looking to incorporate alcoholic beverages into your festivities. One way to do this is to share your wine picks with guests. They can be offered at the bar and by servers or to cut costs, you can put a bottle or two at each table and let guests help themselves. However you do it, there are ways to go green with wine purchases just like everything else.
There are more and more wines made organically and naturally. They can be made with organic grapes, or additionally made without additives like sulfites and acids, and/or without added yeast. Some farming techniques can go beyond organic or additive free and can include Biodynamic Farming, which ensures a more self sustaining farm with a healthy ecosystem.
Here's a look into some of the locally grown and made organic wines that I tried:
Beaver Creek Vineyards are located in Lake County, CA and produce wines using a biodynamic approach, ensuring living micro organisms, bugs and grazing animals and fertile soil. Their wines are made with natural yeast, little added sulfites and are not filtered.
Le Vin Winery and Inn is located on 164 acres in Medocino County, CA. They produce both organically grown wine and Olive Oil, and use hand culivation and other low impact methods. They also do not add sulfites and have low growing clovers and insects that enhance their soil and ecosystem.
Frey Vineyards located in Mendocino, CA provides organically made wines without sulfites or acids and at times without added yeast, and goes beyond that to include other sustainable methods in their production. They include a biodynamic approach to cultivation and land use that supports biodiversity. They are also ensuring that carbon emissions are reduced and eliminated with solar power, tree planting and recycling.
Overall, learning about wines and the steps that these and other vineyards are taking to be organic and sustainable has been a real pleasure. Adding your favorite organic wine picks to your wedding reception would be a great addition to a green wedding. It would help ensure that yet another human pleasure is enjoyed responsibly and may even reflect positively upon the land, animals and other humans on this earth.
G&G
