The sustainability of wines from Oregon
The wine makers of Oregon launch a new initiative to highlight wines produced sustainably. We are impressed. By Kate
I am in the eye of the airless vortex of hell which is the London Wine Trade Fair. I don’t know why I am here. I do not operate in the part of the wine world which belongs in this place.
(I do actually know why I am here – I have to be to have some meetings for the hotels I consult too. I haven’t merely, in an ill judged fit of absent mindedness somehow found myself in the Excel Centre) As if anyone could EVERY absently mindedly find themselves at Excel. Who’s idea was that?
The ‘Oregon Sustainable Viticulture Seminar’ provides a slight diversion. One of the speakers is Alison Sokol Blosser who is the daughter of the family who make the delicious Evolution and Meditrina which we stock.
Oregon , with its 300 wineries, is the third largest wine state in the USA , after California and Washington State
No E & J Gallo clones here – reason number one to love Oregon
One third of the producers in the state are sustainable, organic or biodynamic – probably reasons 2 – 10 to love Oregon
It is also a state which has a reputation for being full of long haired, patchouli reeking, reefer toking hippies (obviously, making numbers 11 – 50 on the approval scale), but, alas, this reputation is not based on fact. Alison and fellow speaker Eric Maclaughlin, although very attractive and charming people, certainly do not fit the hippy mould. (Who knows, though, what goes on when they are not presenting to the UK
Back to the seminar: its purpose is mainly to launch a truly admirable new initiative to bring some cohesion to the proliferation of certification processes in Oregon Et Voila – the Oregon Certified Sustainable Wine is here!
In order to quality for this ‘umbrella’ classification, 95% of a producer's fruit has to be certified by one of the other programs, including certification for sustainable, organic and biodynamic production. It is hoped that with clearer, consumer focused marketing, the OCSW will become an instantly recognizable symbol that people can trust.
There is also a move to create a certification process for sustainable wineries. This highlights the interesting fact that responsible actions in the vineyard do not necessarily translate into the wineries or indeed into any other aspect of the wine making process. It is hoped that this initiative will ultimately go beyond all the vital aspects of sustainability like lowering energy usage, recycling water and using it as responsibly as possible, and encompass taking good care of a workforce and generally being a responsible member of the community. This is an absolute praiseworthy and fantastic initiative – long live the hippies!
All good then: but sadly the short tasting at the end of the presentation reminds me that on the whole I struggle to find wines I love from Oregon Burgundy in America
But this is not to detract from a praiseworthy initiative and one which we will do our best to support through sales of the delicious Sokol Blosser wines – both sterling exceptions to those described above.
(I do actually know why I am here – I have to be to have some meetings for the hotels I consult too. I haven’t merely, in an ill judged fit of absent mindedness somehow found myself in the Excel Centre)
But I digress.
In order to quality for this ‘umbrella’ classification, 95% of a producer's fruit has to be certified by one of the other programs, including certification for sustainable, organic and biodynamic production. It is hoped that with clearer, consumer focused marketing, the OCSW will become an instantly recognizable symbol that people can trust.
