Why you should consider switching to sustainable wine

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5th Jun 2019

“Our journey started with a group of wine industry mates who share a passion for organic wine, sustainable farming, community and the environment,” says Amy Miller, one of the co-creators of Vineful, a brand dedicated to what they call “mindful wine”. Miller says they weren’t able to find a single wine that matched these core values, so instead, they created Vineful. 

The brand is a monthly subscription service where you receive a box of wine that sits within the categories of organic, biodynamic, vegan friendly or preservative free. “We aim to offer a wine experience that reflects our commitment to quality and our core beliefs of being environmentally responsible, collaboration and giving back,” adds Miller. But what does that all mean? We quizzed the co-founder on how to know what impact your Friday night glass of pinot noir has on the environment.

How does Vineful work? 
“A monthly subscription includes free delivery of three bottles of wine that have been mindfully curated for you. Select from red or white wine, or perhaps you prefer a mix – it’s your choice. Every month you will get to discover three seriously good wines, allowing you to explore the mindful wine categories. Mindful wines are wines that are made with the consumer and the environment in mind. We also plant a tree for every wine box sold to help support the environment and future generations to come.”

Can you explain the difference between the types of “mindful” wines?
“Organic wine: the main difference between organic wine and traditional wine is that organic wines are made from grapes grown without artificial and chemical fertilisers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides, with a focus instead on maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Organic farming is mindful of the environment and [on] minimising any impact on the land. 

Natural wine: a wine is considered natural when the grapes have been handpicked and crushed and nothing is added to tanks during fermentation (acid, sugar, enzymes). This allows the fruit to ferment on its own using the naturally occurring yeast on the grape’s skin. Natural wines are unfiltered, so you’ll often see sediment or ‘cloudiness’ in the bottle. Natural wine may not always be organic.

Biodynamic wine: biodynamic winemaking shares the organic approach of no chemical intervention but adds in practices for enriching the soil, planting, pruning and harvesting based on the moon cycle and astrological signs. All biodynamic wine is organic.

Preservative free wine: wines free of or [containing] no added preservatives. [These wines] are ideal for those sensitive to sulphur. Some preservatives in wine are a natural by-product of the winemaking process, which means that if you are sensitive to sulphur dioxide, look for wines that are labelled ‘free of or no added preservatives’ but know that minimal amounts of sulphur dioxide (SO2) may exist due to the fermenting process. 

Vegan friendly wines: wine is made from grapes, so you might think it’s vegan – however, it’s the things winemakers add during the winemaking process that makes most wines non-vegan. To counteract the cloudiness, winemakers introduce fining agents that act like magnets and attract the molecules winemakers don’t want to keep so they are easier to remove. The most common fining agents in winemaking are casein (a milk protein), albumin (egg whites), gelatin (animal protein from boiling animal parts), chitin (fibre from crustacean shells), blood and bone marrow and isinglass (fish bladder protein). The good news is there are a range of animal-friendly fining agents that can be used to make vegan wine, such as clay (bentonite), limestone and silica gel to name a few.”

You said you plant a tree for every three-bottle box sold. What impact does this actually have?
“Trees play a part in recycling nutrients for agriculture, a necessary element for wine production. That’s why we’ve made a promise to plant a tree for every three-bottle Vineful box that we sell. To do this we’ve teamed up with the wonderful crew at Carbon Neutral and their Plant-a-Tree program. The program plants a mix of more than 50 native species in the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor. This plays a fundamental role in removing carbon from the atmosphere as well as helping to reduce soil salinity, helping combat wind and water erosion, enhancing biodiversity and restoring habitat for the endangered Carnaby’s black cockatoo, malleefowl and other threatened flora and fauna.” 

What else are you doing to support sustainability?
“We have been mindful in every step of the way, from collaborating with organic and biodynamic farmers and winemakers who champion alternative practices, to our responsible packaging of boxes engineered to eliminate plastic, and giving back to causes that support the environment – all helping you to raise a glass to the world you want.”

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