For more of Master of Wine Sarah Heller’s
recommendations, follow @sarahhellermwBEYOND BIODYNAMIC
DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START ON THE SUSTAINABILITY TRAIL? HERE ARE SOME RECOMMENDATIONSBIG-PICTURE
THINKING
Vérité La Muse 2013 w
Who said sustainability has to feel austere?
Thismerlotdominant
om
Wines
noma
ed to
trus.
ed
growth
comes
usage,
ered
ke you
y indulged
ous.ate
rd
anc 2017
by-the-
more
he grassy,
non blancs
land’s
gh region,
ne packsserious sustainability cred. Yealands
has used scale to support
emissions-driven initiatives
like burning vine prunings for
electricity and developing
wetlands around their vineyards
to support biodiversity. Their
cutest undertaking? Grass-
mowing babydoll sheep.Familia Torres
Grans Muralles
2011 w
This Conca de
Barberà blend
incorporates native
Spanish grapes long
believed extinct, garró and
querol (adding density and
chewiness), with better-
known natives garnacha,
cariñena and monastrell.
Torres is one of Europe’s
largest vineyard owners,
meaning its initiatives around
sustainable energy, water
use and transport have
major impact. For example,
it pioneered higher altitude
vineyards and ancestral vines
for climate change mitigation.DRY FOR DRY
Marco Cirillo’s 1850
Ancestor Vine Grenache
2016
Though known for shiraz, the Barossa Valley’s
increasing focus on less thirsty grenache is an
encouraging sign. This ethereal, silky, tart cherry
and raspberry-fruited Australian gem is grown
in a vineyard so dry and sandy you want to run
through it barefoot in a bikini.LOCAL HERO
Grace Winery Cabernet Franc 2015
Growing grapes in the humid, stormy
environment of Yamanashi, Japan, has its
challenges. This long-established family
producer worked with renowned viticulturalist
Richard Smart to develop the Smart
Japan system of vine cultivation
to help it farm more sustainably.
This franc’s aromas of smoke,
sagebrush, bright red cherry and
cigar with a lucent medicinal
brightness suggest it has paid off.BETTER BOTTLES
Taittinger Brut Réserve
NV w
One of the few fully
family-owned Champagne
houses again as of 2006,
Taittinger has taken the
long view by not only
reducing the weight
of its bottles to the
recommended 835g
but also by using 94
per cent recycled
glass (versus 80 per
cent for the region).
Even Comtes de
Champagne
Rosé, very much
a prestige bottling,
is only marginally
heavier. The wine style
itself is future-ready,
with a high proportion
of pure, cleansing
chardonnay lending it
longevity (yes, Brut NV
can age!).