Green, red, white, and blue wine?

I got this interesting little e-mail from Consilience this morning, part of which makes the argument that buying wine from domestic wineries is to choose small, local producers over large corporate entities and foreign economies. The suggestion here is that not only is it more green to buy domestic wine, but it also serves the better interests of our US economy.

I was wondering how you feel about this? For my part, I do try to buy organic, locally-grown produce (when I can), but I never made the connection to wine. Maybe I should. In any case, most of my wine purchases come from California anyway, so I guess I am doing my part, but I do love my Baroli and Bordeaux. I guess I was just wondering how much greater of a carbon footprint these wines make? And could buying old world wine be akin to outsourcing?

Fellow Wine Lovers,

With the start of a new year, most of us are hoping for some relief from the bad economic news that has touched nearly everyone. As a purveyor of premium wine, we hear of many people’s efforts to trim expenses during these difficult times. We would like to make an offer to help you continue to enjoy the brief escape from reality provided by relaxing with a fine bottle of wine. We do ask a favor, which is 60 seconds of your time to finish reading this letter.

We know that people are doing their best to cut back in every way possible. Traditionally during times like this the “alcoholic beverage industry” is less affected than other businesses, but premium wines are clearly being affected this time on a national level. Smaller producers operating with slim margins and limited distribution leverage will suffer the most. Many will not make it.

We know you have many choices when selecting a bottle of wine to cozy up with. When shopping online, at the grocery store or wine shop, you find a dizzying array of choices. Without much thought you could easily buy wine from what may be a corporate entity that produces a million cases of wine at a time, or from a glamorous chateau that merely serves as another tax write-off for someone with more money than God. It could even be from a foreign winery in a place that doesn’t necessarily have your best economic interests in mind.

Another consideration would be to buy wine from a small, local producer that works hard to craft the best wine possible for a reasonable value. That simple decision has a more profound impact than initially meets the eye.

For many years the staff at Consilience, and now more recently at Tre Anelli, have been working hard to produce the best wines possible and to get them in your hands with the highest level of customer service. It’s a small group working together to provide a warm and inviting wine tasting experience.

It is a small that group that also depends on your continued support during a down economy. Most of us will continue to enjoy wine down to our last dollar, and we ask that you please keep Consilience and Tre Anelli in mind when choosing. Despite our wildest dreams, it does not appear that Consilience will be the beneficiary of any federal TARP or economic stimulus funds. We hope you’ll stop in, give us a call, or shop around online at:

http://www.Consiliencewines.com> " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Oh, and if you made it this far, please ask for an additional 5% discount on any wine purchased during February 2009. Our thanks for your 60 seconds.

I suppose that is a good thought though its mostly about whats in the bottle. I can’t get anything like Muscadet or Champagne from California or even a lot of the reds of styles I can from Europe. With produce what you get locally is often better and it can be kind of fun to shop for. That way you get to try what’s available. Since the price of wine for the most part is significantly higher you are not afforded the same luxury though browsing the aisles at WineX can be a similar experience. Lower priced wines I find tend to be a real challenge for me to find much from California I really want.

Well, I am conscious of the fact that I have been trying to buy domestic, skipping many of the obvious bargain Spanish (and French) wines out there. So, my motives are red, white and blue, but I dunno about green.

yeah, i was going to send them a response that reminded them that while organic and locally-grown produce often tastes better, the same cannot be said about wine. maybe wes can do something in the sparkling wine category; he seems to be on his way.