Sustainable Solutions - Chapter 3

The Relationship Between Wine, Spinach, and Happy Chickens

This consistency in quality has been achieved through the long-standing commitment by major European wine producing countries to preserve the terroir of their wines.  Throughout France, for instance, the regional origin of the wine is of paramount importance.  Even in New World wines, which are generally named for their grape varietal, region remains an important part of the label.  Anybody who drinks even an occasional glass of wine knows there’s a difference between Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley and Cab from, say, Vermont.  (Sorry, Vermont.  Sometime I’ll write about your cheese, and we’ll blast California together.)

Sustainable Solutions - Chapter 2

The History of Syrah

It was in the year 77 AD that the Syrah grape was first documented in literature.  In fact it may have been cultivated in the Rhone Valley as much as 600 years prior.   There are a number of legends surrounding the origins of Syrah:  that the Romans brought it from the Sicilian city of Syracuse, that it originated in the Persian city Shiraz, which was known for a regional wine called Shirazi, that the plant itself was brought to France by returning crusaders.  Or maybe earlier, by the Greeks.

Sustainable Solutions - Chapter 1

My initial intention in creating this blog was simply to write about wine, but as I delve deeper into sustainability studies, particularly in relation to our modern industrialized foodshed, I have often been struck by the fact that there is already a well-established model for modern, sustainable agriculture:

Winemaking.