Green Wedding Experts Blog

In the past few years, the market has been flooded with new organic, eco-friendly and sustainable wines. Although some wine producers may be practicing environmentally positive viticulture, there are no federal regulations for ambiguous words like “eco-friendly” or “sustainable.” “Organic” is the only lawful and regulated term that consumers can depend on.

After all, wine grapes are an agricultural product. Like most agricultural products, conventional wine grapes are treated with harmful chemicals to deal with pests, viruses, weeds and fungi. While winegrowers are romanticized as purists, they are often dependent on a slew of chemicals to produce high yields and unspoiled fruit. These harmful chemicals unfortunately make their way directly into your glass of wine. “Grapes are among the most contaminated food products and receive a higher dose of synthetic pesticides than almost any other crop,” according to a March, 2008, study by the European Pesticide Action Network. The study revealed that conventional wines contained residues of pesticides potentially harmful to human health.

If you want to stage a true green wedding, don’t skimp on the wine. Only wine labels that read “made with organic grapes” or “organic wine” are legitimately certified organic. And that certification means dependability that you can count on. Below is a decoding of what wine labels mean:

Two brands of imported wine - on the left: Pircas Negras brand from La Rioja, Argentina; on the right: Cascina  Zerbetta from Piedmont, Italy

Made with Organic Grapes

• 100 % of the grapes used to make the wine are grown in accordance to the USDA’s National Organic Program standards.
• No toxic synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, or fungicides are used.
• The wine has been produced and bottled in a certified organic facility.
• The sulfite content must not exceed 100 parts per million (ppm), whereas conventional wine may contain up to 350ppm.

Organic Wine

Same as above but…

• No sulfites have been added during the wine making process and the wine must contain fewer than 20 ppm sulfites. (Naturally occurring sulfites are produced during the fermentation process so although wines labeled ‘Organic Wine’ have no added sulfites, trace amounts of sulfites are still present.)
  
  

  

Organic Vintners' "Tinto" Red Wine - a private label from Spain

What about Vegan wine?

Wine labels are not required to declare the use of animal by products in the winemaking process. Animal by-products often used in clarifying or filtering wine include: Isinglass (derived from fish), gelatin (derived from animal hooves), casein (a milk protein) and egg whites. Vegan wines are not produced with any animal product and are instead clarified with bentonite clay.

Above and Beyond: How Green can you go?

Some wines go above and beyond basic organic standards set by the USDA National Organic Program. Nuevo Mundo from Maipo Valley, Chile, is one such example. Meaning “New World” the Nuevo Mundo wines from the De Martino Family winery are the first carbon neutral wines in Latin America. Greenhouse gases released in every stage of production are offset through wind power and the purchase of carbon credits—making this a wine with zero negative environmental impact.

Here’s how this is achieved:

• Eco-friendly bottles are made from 35% recycled materials and have been reduced in weight by 9%.
• Compost: one-seventh reduction of CO2 emissions generated by the use of organic compost vs. traditional methods.
• Energy and water efficient production processes: Reduction in water consumption for irrigation and production, 18% and 30%, respectively.
• Labels are made from recycled, chlorine free paper and have low ink content.
• Amount of packaging and weight of boxes have been reduced and are made from recycled cardboard.

A vine from a winery called Antica Enotria in Puglia, Italy from which Organic Vintners imports

When it’s time to make a toast, do so in honor of the environment and the occasion. Organic wines offer a safe alternative to the planet and your health. Cheers!

Photos courtesy of Organic Vintners.

Organic Vintners is an organic wine importer located in Boulder, Colorado. They import and represent more than 50 wines from 8 countries all vegan and made with certified organic grapes. Come taste the true terrior of our wines! www.organicvintners.com

All-Natural Made-to-Order vs. Artificial Made in Volume: “Is There Really a Difference?"
(Part 2 in a 3-part series) by Marney White

What do most people get from the corner bakery, when it comes to cakes?  Probably never thought about it, huh?

Most of the time, your local traditional bakery can get you out of a jam when you've forgotten that your fiancé's 30^th birthday party is tomorrow afternoon.  Or even tonight.  Whew!  What a relief.  How can they come through for you like this?  It takes hours to bake, cool, and decorate a cake, right?  Right.

Image: Chloe Volz Photography

That kind of convenience comes at a price. 

Traditional bakeries operate with high overhead…a big shop with substantial payroll and expenses to meet.  The only way to make it all happen is in selling in volume.  That's why there are scads of baked goods in the cases every morning, even before the sun comes up, ready for hungry, happy buyers.  You have to be able to sell as many orders as possible every day, and accommodate as many requests as possible.  How are last-minute cake requests fulfilled?  There's only one way to do it: baking ahead, and freezing the cakes for later use.   You have to be able to take a cake out of the freezer, and fill, ice and decorate it to be ready to send it out the door.  The part that takes the most time is already done: baking and cooling the cake, then chilling it to get it firm enough to work on without tearing it.  So, it's easy to level it, fill it, put some pre-made vegetable shortening icing on it (which is much softer and quicker to apply and pipe than genuine buttercream), pipe a few roses, and get it out the door. 

There's another reality of making a profit in a traditional bakery: they tend to use cost-saving commercial cake mixes, and also tend to use cost-saving oil instead of real butter for the fat in their cakes.  (We already discussed Criscocream icing in my last article.)  Why do commercial bakery cakes so often leave something to be desired where flavor is concerned?  For a couple of reasons: vegetable oil doesn't have the flavor of butter.  Also, cake mixes are chock-full of chemical preservatives.  Think about it: food banks love to ask for them when there's a campaign for food donations for the hungry.  Why?  Because their shelf life is ridiculously long.  You can use a cake mix that's years old, and it'll taste pretty much the same as it would have the day you bought it, if you'd made it right away.  You can formulate a cake mix that will last a real long time, but not without giving something up to get that result.

Having the cakes ready to go is all well and good, but that comes at a price, too.  A side effect of freezing is that things can get really dried-out.  Many people complain of cakes that come from a traditional bakery being dry.  That might be because a cake could be frozen for weeks, or even a couple of months.  That's a long time to sit around, drying out in the cold.

Finally, the scariest reality of getting a pre-frozen cake that's been put together for an order is this: it might still be frozen when you get it.  I've heard horror stories of clients who have ordered a wedding or shower cake from their local bakery, only to have it arrive completely frozen, and inedible.  Moreover, the outside of the cake will “sweat” if it's brought straight from the freezer to room temperature, and the icing may also crack as a result.  Not a pretty sight. 

Image: Chloe Volz Photography

Although it'll never get you out of a jam when you've completely spaced-out and forgotten a cake, there is an alternative: use a custom cake designer.  For us, not an egg is cracked until it's time to make an order.  There are no giant display cases filled with baked goods waiting for a home.   Space is primarily about the kitchen - the workspace.  A custom cake designer will use the best ingredients for your cake, which of course means that you're going to end up with a far more flavorful, moist product than you would from a commercial bakery.  Because we work this way, we limit the amount of work we accept.  Not only are we limited by the clock - it simply takes a certain amount of time for a cake to bake, cool, and then chill and get firm enough to work on. 

Additionally, when you're working in genuine buttercream, it's a totally different consistency than bakery “Criscocream” (if it's white, it's not butter, it's vegetable shortening).  And to you have to re-chill the cake in between every stage of decorating to produce a flawless result.  There's simply no hurrying it.  Of course, there's also physical limitations to consider: there's only so much piping of icing designs that the muscles of the hand can take, so the number of orders a custom cake designer is able to take is limited by that, whether or not we like it.  For a wedding cake, that process can take a couple of days, depending on the complexity of the design.  But have no fear!  Because of the high quality ingredients used (a custom cake designer tends to use only the best ingredients available, regardless of cost), your cake will still taste incredibly moist and fresh - even after the wedding! 

So, if you're after the most moist and delicious cake you can get, make sure you're getting it from someone who makes them without compromising time or quality ingredients, and chances are, you'll be glad you did.

Written by Marney White, Owner of Marneycakes, Inc.

Amidst your (green) wedding planning, have you found yourself extra stressed, lacking time, and in need of more time for R&R? You're not alone. So on first pass, I realize that you might think that the last thing you need is to start a wine tasting group. But wine tasting groups offer a great, casual environment to catch up with girlfriends or other couples old and new while peppering the evening with a bit of education. Monthly events are totally doable, bi-monthly are aokay; any more frequent seemed unlikely and less frequent didn't seem to have the same degree of moment/consistency

If you're sold, then the top 10 tips for conducting your wine tasting group are as follows:

-Set the date and location one month in advance; book people for 90 minutes so they think they can squeeze it into their schedule; they'll end up staying 2-3 hours. Guaranteed.

-Pick a theme. Whether it's "Bordeaux Basics," "A Study in Syrah" (tasting Syrah, also known as Shiraz, from around the world), a comparison of Napa Valley and French Chardonnays, or any other theme, a theme helps organize the learning. (You can also totally outsource the decision making/planning and simply sign up for the Jetsetters wine club by Bottlenotes and receive your wine tasting kit for 10 in a box each month. www.bottlenotes.com/jetsetters)

-Invite your 10-12 favorite wine tasting companions, or 5-6 favorite couples.

-Delegate the wine selection (whether outsourced to Bottlenotes.com, your favorite buyer at your local wine shop, your best friend who's training for her Master Sommelier exam, etc.) to one group member. 6 wines seem to be the max number a small group can enjoy when tasting casually over 2 hours.

-Delegate the relevant cheese/appetizers to two-three other attendees. Encourage them to pick cheeses/appetizers of the chosen theme.

-Decide if you would like a cultural component for the evening (aka: book or article to discuss) and if so, delegate yet another "cultural curator" for the evening. Again, this is truly optional in my mind; the wine alone can provide ample topic for discussion.

-Be prepared with at least 1 wine glass per person, ideally 2 for side by side comparison purposes

-Pick your favorite album to play in the background so the music is consistent throughout the evening;

-Ask people to rate the wines as they taste them on a five-star scale, so you can have an active conversation about the merits of each wine, and

-Be sure to have spittoons (dark vases often do) and plenty of water available so people stay hydrated.

By and large, our recommendation is to plan on a half-bottle, or 2.5 glasses, per person per tasting. There are roughly 20 one-ounce pours, or 10 2-ounce pours, per bottle. So 6 bottles should cover a 10 person group with ease.

Wine tasting groups are the perfect excuse to stay connected to girlfriends- and/or your favorite couples- during the wedding planning process.

Cheers!

Written By Alyssa J. Rapp, founder and CEO of Bottlenotes.com

Bottlenotes.com is the premier online wine community where wine enthusiasts come to learn about wine, share tasting notes and buy wine. Rapp is also the author of Bottlenotes Guide to Wine: Around the World in 80 Sips.