King of Green

When Paul Dolan speaks about making the world a better place in which to live, he does so with considerable experience.

After fighting the good fight for 27 years at Fetzer Vineyards, where he became the company advocate for organic viticulture and sustainable business, Dolan has formed a partnership with the Dolan and Thornhill families to create the Mendocino Wine Company (MWC), where he hopes to take everything he has espoused for years to the next level.

MWC is designed as and expected to be, an environmentally and socially conscious winery and, sans braggadocio, a model for the wine business. By extension, it is Dolan's hope to develop the wine industry as a model for all agriculture, worldwide.

It has been suggested that the notion of sustainability, as it's used in the wine business, is so vague as to have no meaning. Should consumers put any stock in the term "sustainable methods" as it is used in California?

While California is on the forefront of sustainability and the wine business is definitely a leader in that movement, there is currently no legislation on the use of the term. The California Sustainable Wine Alliance was the first to develop a self-assessment guide, 500 pages long, to help the wine and grape community better understand the complexity of "sustainability" in our industry.

With no approved certification at this time, I would encourage consumers to evaluate wines claiming sustainability by looking for specific examples of how that company is pursuing environmental and social responsibility.

If a claim [is] made that a product is "sustainable," customers should lean toward the most specific claims. Tags such as "carbon neutral," or any certification that may go along with sustainable practices, could be another indicator of legitimacy to that claim, such as "organically" grown or "biodynamic."

You are well known for your three E strategy. Can you briefly explain the concept as it relates to wine?

The term E3 refers to the triple bottom line. This occurs when a company makes decisions that are environmentally sound, economically viable and socially equitable. Most businesses today operate only with a financial return in mind. This will not suffice in the future, considering the fragile state of both our environment and our society.

We use the three Es [strategy] to help us build a sustainable business. A sustainable business should be a whole business, like a whole person. It must have integrity. It must have a moral centre. It must be connected to its values and the greater world. It must aspire to do what is right, not just for the bottom line, not just from a legal standpoint, but also from a moral and ethical standpoint. It's not only accountable, it's responsible.

Sustainability is an economic asset and a competitive advantage, as well as an imperative for healthy life on this planet. At Mendocino Wine Company, we have three mandates.

The first is to be an environmental leader in everything we do, from the treeless paper labels and soy inks, to certified vineyards and carbon neutrality. Secondly, we are committed to being a contributor to health and vitality in our community. We have been the sponsors of a countywide fundraiser, Pure Mendocino, which shares organic food and wines, with the proceeds going to our community cancer resource centre. And, finally, we love being creative in our labels, wine styles and environmental approach, because we believe that consumers are continuously looking for diversity.

Most importantly, we approach the three E's at Mendocino Wine Company by having fun; reaching out to new audiences, with each wine carrying a fresh look and message, while advancing farming and business practices that nourish the environment, the community and the individual, including an abiding respect for the agricultural roots of Mendocino County.

The wine industry is a small player in the Big Business world, but taking an initial step - and setting an example - will only help encourage others to do the same.

How easy or difficult is it to transform a vineyard from conventional growing practices to organic growing?

It is relatively simple. When converting to organic, there are a few aspects to consider: the actual legal certification process and the farming practices.  When it comes to farming, every piece of ground is different: its needs, its strengths and its expression.

Conversion from conventional growing to organic growing is really a site-specific endeavour; the regulations may be uniform but the methods adopted may be as diverse as the vineyard. Often times, we think that organic simply means that the farmer eliminated all chemicals. This is true, but it is much more, not the least of which is the health of the soil.

This is the cornerstone of organic grape-growing; a healthy vineyard provides for a healthy plant and ultimately a great-tasting grape and wine. Additionally, when a grower decides to convert to organic farming, it requires a real in-depth evaluation of the health of the vineyard, quality of the fruit and goals of the farmer.

All of that information is used to develop a "farm plan." The plan encompasses everything from watering practices, integrated pest management, to soil nutrient additives [compost] and how, as a grape grower, you will meet the needs of the vineyard, your own quality goals and optimize the farm plan. 

The other aspect is the legal certification process, which can be really daunting for a lot of growers. There can be a lot of paperwork and documentation involved, which in the end can all become really useful tools.

The full legal process requires a farm to practice organic-farming methods for three full years before they are allowed to use the term "organic." Overall, the process can be challenging, but the end result is a more in-tune grower, a more ecologically-balanced vineyard and more expressive fruit.

Since most everything in the wine business revolves around money, how economically feasible is "going organic" for the average grower/producer?

Farming is never an inexpensive enterprise. Every vineyard is different, but I have yet to encounter a vineyard where it was not feasible to convert to organic.

The transition years, years one through three, can cause higher farming costs (approximately 10 percent), but in the long run, the demand for organic fruit is increasing the value of the vineyard and the wine.

The real value in farming organically is the increased quality of the fruit. This is the true economic return - sustainable value in the marketplace due to demand for your wines.

Would you share with us a precise definition of organic grapes and organic wine?

"Organic" grapes refer to how the grape was grown. Organically grown means no synthetic chemicals are used in the farming practices. This definition is limited to what happens in the vineyard, which is arguably the most important stage in a wine's life.

While "organic wines"' are made with organically grown grapes, this term extends to the winemaking practices and most notably, to the restriction on adding sulphites. Don't get me wrong, all wines contain sulphites, but to label a product "organic wine," the winemaker cannot add sulphites [S0²].

Sulphites are derived from sulphur, a naturally occurring preservative, that when added to wine after fermentation, allows wines to age by acting as an antioxidant.  Sulphites have been used since Egyptian times to preserve food and wine, and are found in many food products (everything from cheese to bread).

There is another category here that I think deserves some mention... wine made with organically grown grapes ... using winemaking methods that involve special handling and the use of only organic products [yeast, etc.], but that do contain added sulphites. These wines do use S0² as a preservative, giving the wine the expected ageability we are accustomed to in a fine wine.

Wines made with organically grown grapes offer the customer peace of mind about the farming practices, but also more flexibility and ageability in the product.

How does biodynamic wine-growing differ from organic wine-growing? Are there distinct, positive flavour differences in organic or biodynamic wines, or is it more about making wine responsibly?

All farming is exploitive. The vines extract nutrients and elements from the soil, which we remove in the form of grapes. We have a choice.

In conventional farming, we replace these with petrochemicals in the form of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. In organics, we use natural materials such as compost and cover crops. And finally, in biodynamics, we use organic methods and we follow with the biodynamic preparations that are designed to add the life-force back into the soil.

Organic and biodynamic wine-growing, while they are different approaches, have a heavy influence on capturing the place, or terroir, more so than conventional growing. What I have found is that a single vineyard, after being converted to organic, produces more expressive and dynamic fruit.  The fruit wasn't different as much as it was the fullest expression of what the vineyard could produce, and those qualities definitely carried over into the wines.

I believe that every vineyard, in spite of how highly regarded, will make better wines if they were to convert to organic or biodynamic farming methods. The vine will find itself in a healthier environment and will be able to respond to any adversity, be it pest or disease, naturally.

How useful are carbon credits in the wine business, or are they simply a marketing gimmick used to disguise nasty environmental practices already in place?

The greatest challenge in the world today is global warming. All of us, individuals and businesses, must do all we can to meet this challenge. Carbon credits are very useful for many industries, including the wine business.

Carbon credits can be used as one component to achieving carbon neutrality.  Being carbon neutral involves calculating a winery's total carbon emissions, reducing (mitigating) them where possible, and then purchasing carbon credits to offset remaining emissions.  In the grand scheme of things, the wine industry is not a major world-polluter, but moving towards carbon neutrality is the right thing to do; right for the planet and right for the wine.

Not all wineries are ready to make the big leaps, and big investments, that mitigation can take; that's where carbon credits can help them move forward faster.

Mitigation can be pursued through many avenues, but the most common and impacting pursuits are to convert to solar power, change to fluorescent bulbs, convert to biodiesel and undergo an energy audit. Simply said, the carbon credits provide the resources so needed to make new investments in alternative energies, such as wind and solar power.

How can a curious wine consumer become a real partner in the sustainable, organic biodynamic wine movement?

Educate yourself. The most powerful and effective consumer is an educated one.  When a shopper takes the time to read about what is going on in the business of wine, and how their favourite wineries measure up, they go to the store with the most powerful tool possible: knowledge.

We really do vote with our dollar, and choosing to support wineries that are practicing the methods you support is the fastest and easiest way to get involved in the wine businesses' environmental movement. 

Is it practical or affordable for consumers to embrace the idea of going green without eliminating most of the wines they have come to enjoy drinking?

The good news is so many wineries and businesses globally are waking up to the green revolution, and making changes to the way they do business, manufacture products and grow wine.

If customers have a relationship with a brand of wine, the first thing they should do is hop online and e-mail the winery and find out what their plans are regarding "green business," and let them know how much it matters. You would not believe how powerful a request or suggestion can be coming from a loyal customer.

In the short run, there is a lot of great everyday "green" wine out there, and it is completely feasible to enjoy new great wines that are made with the values you respect. When it comes to quality organic and biodynamic wines at moderate price points, there are some fantastic opportunities. That doesn't mean there aren't some very high-priced organic and biodynamic wines coming out of France and California, but a savvy consumer can find bargains that fit into the environmental standard they are looking for.

I would encourage consumers to look at some of the lesser know appellations, such as Mendocino County, California or New Zealand (particularly for white wines). These younger wine regions are on the cutting edge of the environmental movements and are making some really incredible wines at reasonable prices.