From Vine To Cork: Sustainable Wine-Making Practices

You are planning a nice dinner party and you want to buy a bottle of wine. How do you stay true to your environmental commitment when choosing a wine? Do you need to buy organic wine, or are there other factors that are more significant? And what about the cork? Does it matter what stops the bottle up? Today on Sea Change Radio we explore wine – what goes in the bottle and what seals it. First, we hear from winemaker Christopher Vandendriessche who discusses practices in the industry that do and do not promote sustainability, and how his small family-run winery, White Rock Vineyards, works to conserve natural resources while producing excellent-tasting wine. Next, host Alex Wise speaks to environmental journalist and educator Andrew Revkin, who has been leading a documentary filmmaking project on the sustainability of cork. They talk about cork and the movement toward synthetic corks and aluminum screw-tops.