OPERATOR
and this past April expanded into four new locations , including NYC Pier 57 , Hudson Valley , Chicago and St . Louis .
City Winery sells an average of 6,500 glasses of wine every night from its tap systems , according to founder / CEO Michael Dorf . He anticipates that growing to 15,000 glasses a night from additional locations in the next few years , and believes the growlers will be a popular take-home option .
Serving drinks on tap rather than bottles or cans is a great way to become more sustainable , Pearman says . “ Many restaurants now purchase wine by the keg , an innovative solution that is also more economical .”
Pearman also recommends optimizing menus to use fewer ingredients across a wider array of products and capitalizing on food that is grown locally and in-season . “ Taking the time to review and refresh your menu each season is a great practice in general , but approaching it from a sustainability angle can help to streamline your kitchen , reduce waste and reduce your carbon footprint by sourcing locally .”
Hotel Las Torres recently opened the first sustainable bar in Chile . Las Torres is the only hotel in Patagonia to brew its own beer — fermented in a small cabin just outside the bar and made with water from the glaciers and hops grown in the organic garden . What ’ s more , all organic waste from brewing the hotel beer is used to generate compost that is worked back into the garden soil .
The bar also has a hotel-made Tierra Paine Gin , which features 18 botanicals straight from the hotel garden and is created through an ancestral clay distillation process using glacial water sourced from nearby waterfalls of Mount Cerro Paine . Creative cocktails with natural ingredients plucked from the garden are served in recycled glassware with sustainable copper straws .
NATURAL WINE ’ S TIME
Organic and biodynamic farming have become more important , according to sommelier and wine writer Nadine Brown . Cabernet franc from France ’ s Loire Valley is a frequent leader in these discussions , she says , thanks to the high amount of organic and biodynamic winemakers in the region — as well as those who have been making natural wine before the style was fashionable .
Indeed , natural wine is considered to have started in rural France back in the 1990s , says Nenad Trifunovic , the in-house wine expert at Wine & More , a retailer of Croatian and Balkan wines . But natural wine has recently gained more attention and popularity among consumers , especially with the rise of environmentalism and wellness culture , he notes .
Court Liquors in Long Branch , NJ , focuses on organic , biodynamic and natural wines , which represent about 80 % of its wine selection The retailer began transitioning its wine selection around 2010 in part because it aims to work with artisanal producers , says executive vice president Nicholas Pizzonia .
Another reason : Most of the chain-type stores in the region don ’ t carry many independent choices . “ So offering these wines is also a branding element , a way to differentiate ourselves , like , ‘ If you build it , they will come ’,” he says .
These natural wines also allow buyers to expand their repertoire of wines , since they
City Winery in fall 2022 launched a reusable bottle program in which customers can take wine to go , return the bottle to be washed and sanitized , then receive a $ 5 credit towards the next bottle .
Court Liquors in Long Branch , NJ , which focuses on organic , biodynamic and natural wines , uses green shelf talker signage to indicate the different disciplines .
are frequently produced in areas of the world not always well represented at retail , such as parts of Eastern Europe and Greece .
“ We ’ re always growing and expanding our selection ,” Pizzonia says . “ We keep organic , biodynamic and natural in mind whenever we buy anything .”
The wines do require consumer education , he notes . “ We put signage on all of our bottles to indicate the different disciplines ,” using green for the color of the organic , biodynamic and natural wine shelf talkers .
Court Liquors also introduces people to these wines through its regular wine classes in the store , adds assistant manager Victoria Matveeva . “ Tasting builds knowledge in the different styles , producers and grapes .”
Restaurants have embraced natural wines as well . Vern ’ s in Charleston , SC , features roughly 75 rotating wines from vineyards around the world that are committed to organic farming . Table in Asheville , NC , has a natural wine list focusing on small producers and farms making wines with native yeast and spontaneous fermentation .
“ While there is still discussion about what exactly makes a wine ‘ natural ,’ and whether it is more of a marketing gimmick , it looks like this category will continue to draw even more attention over the next couple of years ,” predicts Wine & More ’ s Trifunovic . •
9 2023 Sustainability Guide