April 25, 2011, Ashland, OR – On Earth Day, wine lovers woke up to a new world of Earth-friendly choices with the public beta of ConsciousWine, a web portal devoted exclusively to wines that are as good for the planet as they are for the palate.
Starring Jeff “The ConsciousWine Guy” Weissler, the site features a webisodic wine show, online radio program, blog and directory covering vintners who grow grapes and make wine the Old World way, naturally. With a fun, casual style, Weissler helps wine lovers and tree huggers alike get to the heart of what really makes wine green, and good.
“ConsciousWine was born out of two frustrations that I experienced as a wine retailer,” shares Weissler. “First, thanks to industrial agriculture and ‘better living through chemistry,’ wines from all over the world, even different varietals, started tasting the same. Yuck! Second, and sadder still, organic wine did not consistently equal quality, leaving early adopters with a bad taste in their mouth and forcing top-rated certified-organic grape growers to forgo the green stamp of approval for fear of being branded bad.”
To make the ConsciousWine list, vintners must create great-tasting wines from sustainably farmed, organically grown grapes. They must also engage in one or more of twelve responsible practices, ranging from biodiversity to water conservation to good worker policies. All the featured estates farm exclusively with Organic Materials Review Instrument (OMRI) approved products, and many carry Demeter’s Biodynamic brand, representing the most rigorous and respected sustainability standards in the field.
With no legal definition of sustainability, and more certification schemes than a connoisseur can keep track of, Weissler hopes to help confused consumers make sense of what green really means in the wine world, both on the ground and in the glass. His blog covers virtually every aspect of natural winemaking, focusing mostly on estate wineries that put people and the planet on the same bottom line with profit.
This summer, ConsciousWine will also open an online winery-direct shop stocked with fine wine and food from holistic estates considered to be among the best in the United States, most of which go well beyond organic in their principles and practices.
In his quest to explore the world of conscious wine, Weissler has personally visited and vetted every winery on the website.
For more information, visit www.ConsciousWine.com.
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