The Wine Line with Certified Sommelier Eric Arsenault
In 2007, a word found its way into many a food and wine conversation. It started slowly, gradually garnering more focus. By Fall it had grown to a critical mass, the point at which the majority of wine questions posed to me dealt with "So what's the deal with Sustainable and Organic Wines? Are they any good?
Now it's 2008, in a year in which "green issues" will be in our everyday conversation, something is very different about these issues this time around. Four years ago "being green" was largely about our civic responsibility to protect our planet. Somewhere along the way many farmers realized that by cleaning up the air, farming might want to consider what is happening to the soils and streams too. Suddenly, there is an organic, sustainable, or chemical free alternative for nearly every product in a grocery store and prices re becoming reasonable. As a result, people are looking at their food full of artificial grown hormones, fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, countless other carcinogenic-icides, and saying "Why am I eating this?". Thankfully, somewhere along the way "being green" grew from protecting the earth to protecting ourselves. Grape growers around the world have been on the frontlines of this movement and an increasing number of wines are now made from grapes grown with little or no artificial fertililzers, insecticides and pesticides. Now the answer to the question is if they are enjoyable. I swear on my reputation as a Sommelier, "They are better!" The wines of the world are only going to continue to get better because of sustainable grape growers' very simple equation...Healthy Soils = Healthy Vines = Healthy ripe Fruit = Healthy & Excellent Wines. And the best part of the equation - all of that equals a healthier and happy wine drinker!
On our wine lists, an asterisk indicates a wine made by sustainable means. For a copy of the mostcurrent wine lists please emaildmcleod@msventures.net or call 1-888-456-3463.
