The COMPLETE "It's Not Easy Being Green" Conversation
Sustainability in wine: all six posts condensed into one place
I started out the conversation this month and now I’m wrapping it all up into one neat little package so everyone can follow it as easily as possible. I’ve also tagged all the authors into the post, and I recommend that you immediately go follow them all! Each of us has a very different focus and perspective on our respective blogs, and between us, you are bound to be suitably entertained and educated on wine and wine-adjacent topics.
Here’s my initial post, in which I sketched out some basic definitions and pointed out some of the challenges of sustainability labels when some producers use them quite loosely and others don’t designate themselves in any sustainable category despite farming and winemaking techniques that would more than qualify them to do so.
Wine Conversations: It's Not Easy Being Green (I)
It’s on me to kick off this second round of Wine Conversations, in which a group of Substack wine writers offer our perspectives on a topic in the world of wine. If you missed the first conversation, check out my post that wrapped up our last topic:
George Nordahl then followed up with a thorough discussion of the importance of walking the walk, not just talking the talk - and awarded himself a sustainability certification that means every bit as much as some of the labels you might find out there.
Maria Banson brought her own perspective on natural wines - another oft-confusing label! - and suggested that one way to find reliable wines is to trust an importer.
Simon J Woolf reminded us all that these certifications are usually difficult to achieve, and represent real commitment and effort on the part of growers and producers. They are not and should not be marketing terms!
Charlie Brown recommended your local wine shop owner as a resource to find out which wines are really following sustainable practices, whether certified or not. Her post touched on the layers of trust necessary to communicate sustainability practices down the line from growers and producers, to importers and distributors, to retailers and restaurants, and finally to consumers.
Finally, Dave Baxter wondered whether consumers care very much about these labels, and advocated for a single Regenerative Organic Certified label that would go even beyond environmental sustainability to include animal welfare and social fairness.
Well, that’s all for this month! If you’re enjoying this series, help us build traction by following the authors, liking the posts, and sharing them to your Notes or other social media. Looking forward to next month’s discussion, whatever the topic may be! I’ll be back on Friday with this week’s Through the Grapevine, which I delayed to get this post up in a timely manner. Cheers!
FYI, I'll be migrating from Substack to Ghost over the weekend. You'll still receive posts, and I'll continue to recommend you (Ghost allows recommendations from other platforms). I've had some tech problems with SS that I can;t resolve (partly because it's almost impossible to contact a real person, rather than an AI bot).