Eco Friendly Wines Worth Sipping This Earth Day

It’s always nice to drink with a theme, don’t you think?

So when Earth Day rolls around, it seems appropriate to thumb through the bottles available and cherry pick the sustainable, organic and/or biodynamic wines. As we mentioned when talking about wines for Earth Hour, many wineries are opting for organic and sustainable practices, as it’s not only the trendy and right thing to do, but it’s also much, much cheaper. However, because of the immense cost associated with getting certified quite a number have opted to forgo the official certification process.

A version of this blog appears in theloop.ca, where Erin is the featured wine writer.

Hidden Bench “Terroir Cache” VQS Beamsville Bench, ON 2010
$38 hiddenbench.com
Hidden Bench is a beautiful boutique winery, that prides itself on its terroir driven, artisan wines. The winery donates 1% of gross sales to environmental organizations across Canada, was one of the first Niagara wineries to use the green electricity company, Bullfrog Power, and also uses sustainable viticulture. There’s so many great picks coming out of Hidden Bench it was a challenge to pick just one (look for a review of the Locust Lane Rose in the next week or two). Terroir Cache is a gorgeous and elegant Bordeaux blend that we fell in love with when we tried it last year for its plush elegance. Still showing the rich and ripe dark fruits, fresh turned earth and wet leaf notes, this would be lovely to enjoy now with grass finished rare beef tenderloin, or tuck it away for another 5 years.

Closson Chase “KJ Watson” Pinot Noir, VQA Niagara River, ON 2011
$34.95 clossonchase.com
Utilizing a state-of-the-art gravity fed facility, sustainable technology in its barrel cellars and environmentally friendly vineyard techniques, Prince Edward County’s Closson Chase specializes in Burgundian varietals, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The KJ Watson, coming from fruit sourced in Niagara, is elegant and focused despite the anemic orange-pink colour. With aromas of red berry, smoke, and purple floral notes.  The palate shows the same sweet red berry, violet, toasty flavours with light tannin and vibrant acidity.

Malivoire Melon, VQA Beamsville Bench, ON 2013
$19.95 malivoire.com 
Malivoire, which we talked about when we featured the rosé for our Earth Hour blog, has a light eco footprint using everything from collected rainwater for use during the dry season to lightweight machinery to reduce fuel consumption. The Melon, perhaps one of Malkivoire’s lesser known wines, is a fantastic warm weather sipper! With aromas of Delmonte fruit cup, white flowers and orange water, one the palate it’s light and bright with a slightly glycerin texture and flavours of fresh yellow pear and apple and citrus orange freshness. The only disappointment is that we’re told it sells out fairly quickly, so get a move on.

Kacaba Unoaked Chardonnay, VQA Niagara Peninsula, ON 2012
$14.95 kacaba.com
We’ve always been big fans of this fresh and bright unoaked Chardonnay. With flavours of crisp orchard fruit, sweet citrus, and a mineral finish, this wine gives major bang for the buck. Even better, it turns out Kacaba is also environmentally friendly, using gravity fed production techniques and sustainable agriculture.

Southbrook Vineyards Whimsy! “Damy” Chardonnay, VQA Niagara Peninsula, ON 2011
$34.95 southbrook.com
Not only is this wine certified biodynamic and organic, it’s also suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Whimsy! is a top tier from Southbrook and drinks as such: with aromas of yellow apple and pear, vanilla pod and custard, the palate is rich yet focused with ripe orchard fruit and baking spice flavours, a creamy mouthfeel and bright, balanced acid. This Chard would be perfect to sip on with  hard cheeses, sitting outside by a fire during the still-chilly-ish early spring evenings.

Le Clos Jordanne “Claystone Terrace” Chardonnay, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, ON 2011
$40 leclosjordanne.com
A sophisticated and sleek Chardonnay that offers aromas of flint, green apple, moderate smoke and subtle vanilla notes. The palate is mid weight with crisp acidity and an almost beeswax texture. Flavours of crushed rock, smoke, orchard fruit and slight baking spice. Lovely option for halibut in a caper-lemon sauce or creamy veal stew. – See more at: https://thewinesisters.com/blog/2013/09/does-size-matter-the-personal-side-of-big-wineries/#sthash.bE2bSDLP.dpuf