The Catchword of Today is Sustainability
July 4th, 2008
This is true even among winemakers, several of which have taken up the renewable energy cause and are looking for ways to lessen their negative impact on the environment – whether through eliminating the use of pesticides, creating new types of packaging, cutting back on waste, or tapping into sources of sustainable energy such as wind or solar power.
One example of a winery working on “going green” is Boisset Family Estates, the third largest winery in France. In order to capitalize on the growing trend of young and “casual” wine drinkers, they decided to swap their traditional glass wine bottles for Tetrabriks, boxes made from an aluminum coated paperboard that is commonly used here for milk, juice, soups and even the local plonk. According to the winery, this material helps to protect the wine from oxidation, and another advantage is that the thinner walls allow the white wine to chill faster. This packaging is used for young wines that are meant to be consumed immediately, rather than stored, and therefore ends the discussion on the effect of the brik on aging or the lack thereof of cork or tetrabrik vs. bottle storage.
The winery has not stopped there, however. Also driven by environmental concerns, the company’s latest packaging innovation was the launch of the Yellow Jersey brand in a bottle manufactured out of PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) and lined with a special material that is supposed to protect the wines from oxidation – although again they are not meant to be stored for long periods of time. Like the tetra brik, the production of this material reduces energy consumption and transportation requirements. While there is nothing that could ever replace the elegance and desirability of a glass wine bottle, I think that there is some growing interest in experimenting with different types of wine packaging.
For their part, Abadía Retuert’s winemaking process has already been pretty darn “green” for some time. To give just a few examples, they shun the use of pesticides and use wind energy to keep frost off the vines, while the winery itself has a revolutionary design and layout in which actions are carried out according to the natural gravitational flow – thereby consuming much less energy. Most recently, Abadía Retuerta´s latest focus on sustainability and renewable energy resources involves their new hotel project. One of the hotel’s most significant factors includes the construction of solar panels to harness the sun’s energy and use it to heat the water in guests´ rooms – dramatically reducing the hotel’s dependence on “traditional” energy sources.
We’ll keep you up to date on other sustainable practices we’ll be implementing in both the winery and the hotel in the future, but for now, we hope together, we can make a market impact by reducing, reusing and recycling in our own personal sphere.
Adrienne
Soñando Entre Viñas
June 30th, 2008
On the 11th of June, I had the pleasure of attending an event in Madrid held to celebrate the kick-off of a new and exciting joint venture undertaken by the emblematic wineries Abadía Retuerta, Cepa 21 and De Alberto, in conjunction with Renfe (the Spanish train company) and the new Melía Recoletos Boutique Hotel in Valladolid.
Referred to by the name “Soñando Entre Viñas” (dreaming amongst the vines), the presentation was directed towards the Spanish national tourism sector in order to promote a new project geared towards wine tourism in the city of Valladolid and its surrounding area. While wine tourism has enjoyed many years of success in a few Spanish wine regions, it is still a relatively new phenomena in Castilla-León, although it is probably experiencing more growth here than anywhere else in Spain at the moment.
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The Results are In: Pago Garduña 2005 Takes Center Stage
June 26th, 2008
Pago Garduña 2005 from Abadía Retuerta, was just awarded a prestigious Gold Medal in the 2008 International Wine Challenge. Of only 10 Syrah wines from all over the world to receive this honor, Pago Garduña 2005 was the ONLY Spanish Syrah to walk away with this award, with high marks given to its body and expressiveness, intense deep color, fruit, and velvety tannins. This wine, made from 100% Syrah grapes, undergoes malolactic fermentation in new Allier oak barrels, before being aged for 20 months.
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Grape Seeds are for Wine, not my Jacuzzi!
June 13th, 2008
Thankfully there is no longer any doubt as to the positive health benefits that can come from drinking wine. Red wine (primarily) has been proven to be beneficial for such ailments as heart disease and high cholesterol, and contains antioxidizing properties which have been proven to have positive effects on high blood pressure and cancer prevention. Thousands of years ago both the Egyptians and Greeks used wine for medicinal and ceremonial purposes, while grape leaves and vines have also been used by European healers throughout the years to treat things like skin diseases, bleeding, and inflammation, etc.
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Castilla y León is Alive with Blooming Poppies and Wildflowers
June 9th, 2008
If you’ve ever stood at the foot of the Pyrenees in the spring when the miniature wild flowers peek up from the rocky soil, seen the clear and sacred ice blue streams frozen on a crisp winter’s day, or enjoyed the lush blanket of technicolor leaves along Ebro Valley, you’ll immediately relate to how nature has a tendency to take your breath away. With the hustle and bustle of today’s society, there is nothing quite like having that one moment in time that life literally stands still, so that each and every sensation, from the cool wind upon your cheek to the smell of freshly cut grass, takes precedent. Yeah, we know it doesn’t happen that often, but when it does, we like to take full advantage of it!
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