Good Planet, Good Wine

I come from the cold into Black + Blue Steakhouse, weave my way through the bustling après biz crowd, climb the stairs in the back and enter the sophisticated private room where I’m greeted by a handful of cheery wine-lovers. Gilian Handelman, VP of Education at Jackson Family Wines, has gathered us to talk sustainability in the wine industry.  

I almost didn’t come. I am all about being an eco-warrior, but I was leery of getting an “education” from a massive wine brand. But… there was going to be wine, and I’m fond of several offerings in Jackson’s portfolio. So, I’m here. As I take my seat at the table I quickly become very happy I came.  

Gilian’s title is Vice President of Education, but a more apt title would be Vice President of Assembling A Lovely Group Of People For A Fun And Enriching Evening. Gilian spends more time asking questions and listening than she does talking at us. She is curious and inquisitive; what we are drinking, eating, enjoying? She digs for insights into the local wine and food scene. Mostly, it feels like we are catching up with an old friend.

We do talk about sustainability, but not in the way I expected. We don’t even discuss the different sustainability initiatives Jackson Family Wines implements, like Rooted for Good – A Roadmap To 2030, which details their strategy for regenerative farming, social responsibility, climate action, water conservation, and leadership. I guess Gilian knows anybody can read about that stuff on Jackson’s website (as I did). If you are into info, it’s interesting and well presented.

Instead, interspersed with discussions of tattoos and music, we talk terroir and merroir. Gilian has us describe the differences we taste between grass and grain fed beef, between east and west coast oysters. I proclaim that the Fanny Bay oysters we eat give me a burst of nostalgia; I feel like I am getting a mouthful of the Salish Sea I grew up swimming in. The guy who grew up on the prairies has a similar feeling as we taste grass-fed Alberta beef. Of course, we are pairing these bites with wine; experiencing how two different cabs play with two different kinds of beef; how two chards play off East and West coast merroir. We talk about how regenerative farming shows up on your tastebuds. About why oysters are so damn good. Really, we are talking about the connection between us and the planet.

Serious scientific studies show, a glass of wine is the most romantic beverage available. This was true 400 years ago, and it’s even truer now because there is an analog aspect to wine that makes it timeless, akin to handwritten letters, music on vinyl and mechanical watches. There’s no shortcut to making a good glass of wine. Even in current times when everything is scaled to monstrous proportions, processes are modified to be efficient and cheap, systems are automated, additives hide imperfections, preservatives extend shelf life, AI takes out human touch. Of course the wine industry is not immune to these factors, but the best wine still relies on a human winemaker, time, and, most importantly, our beautiful planet providing the grapes, soil, water, and microorganisms. We are tasting the planet. If the planet is good, the wine is good. If the planet is in bad shape, it shows up in the glass.

So, wine becomes the canary in the coal mine putting winemakers on the frontline of environmental stewardship. Unlike -insert name- corporation, who creates a sustainability initiative for optics, for winemakers taking care of the planet is taking care of their product. Even reading through Jackson’s Rooted For Good 10 year plan, you can see it’s nicely packaged messaging for the public, but much of it is actions they’ve been taking for decades.

Jackson Family Wines is a big dog, with over 40 brands, moving about six million cases a year. So, it’s heartening to see a brand that does such volume committing to the health of the planet. But it also speaks to their commitment to quality product. On the flipside, if a wine brand is not serious about sustainability I suspect they are building their flavour profiles in a lab instead of coaxing it out of the land.

“Land before brand” is a phrase Peter Repole, Jackson’s SVP of International Sales and Distribution, keeps repeating as he discusses the company’s acquisition of different vineyards around the globe. We are all programmed to reach for labels that we know and trust. But the label is just a sticker. We should be putting our trust in the soil and water that makes the wine in our glass possible.

Oh, and there is wine in our glass. Our local VP of Sales, Mark Bruni, has curated a nice selection, with reliable standards from La Crema and Kendall-Jackson, to intriguing sips from Arcanum and Diatom. I think the 2018 Capensis Chardonnay that comes out late in the evening still stands as my favourite glass of wine I’ve had so far in 2024.

The evening concludes and I step back outside, warmed from within by wine, food, and new friendship. The cold air feels refreshing. I’m hopeful. With all the things to stress over, it’s nice to spend some time celebrating the connection between good wine and a healthy planet.