Slow Down…Drink Some Wine!
Posted by: Denise Slattery in Wine, Food on Oct 22, 2009
In some parts of the country, chefs and food enthusiasts are joining the Slow Food movement. www.slowfoodusa.org It's a simple idea; eat food that's grown locally, reject processed foods, endorse sustainably produced foods. It's a way of life, and once you adopt even a piece of it, you really won't see food production in the same light again.
I've always maintained that wine is the ultimate slow food. If you drink wines made right here in the region, you are contributing to a beautiful cycle. Winemakers are working with growers and vineyard managers to produce the highest quality fruit and that generally means employing sustainable viticulture practices. Vinea www.vineatrust.com is one organization that growers tap into for these guidelines. Salmon Safe is another. www.salmonsafe.org.
Walla Walla produces so many amazing wines from vineyards in the Valley and nearby Eastern Washington AVA's, it's a locavore's delight! Drinking local wines is easy and a real pleasure. The terroir travels with you in every bottle you take home to share with friends and family.
At our winery, as with many in the region, the fruit we take is all hand pruned, trained, weeded and harvested. That means there's a tremendous amount of labor involved in getting that fruit from the field to the winery. I respect that, and the growers we work with take good care of their workers and pay fair wages. That's part of what it means to be sustainable. But it also means that we pay a premium for the fruit. Is it worth it? You can consider this yourself when you open of bottle of wine produced in the Walla Walla Valley.
I also think about how long it takes to produce a delicious, well-aged, premium red wine. It's a slow process! We don't rush it and we don't ‘process' it. We simply make sure we give the natural cycle every possible advantage. I've heard some winemakers refer to this as "getting out of the way." What ever you want to call it, you have to admit that it takes time to coax the very best of earth, sun and soil out of the fruit to make excellent wines. It's a slow process and once the wine is in a barrel, things really slow down! Many wineries will not release wine until it has aged at least two years if not many more.
We're about mid-way through harvest at this point and very, very busy in the winery. There are a million things to do and manage. Crushing, pressing, punch-downs, lab work, vineyard visits...it's all happening fast and furious! So, my advice to you? Slow down, enjoy a glass of wine from the region and think about how wonderful it is to drink in the fruits of our labor! Cheers!
Denise Slattery is one of the three co-winemakers and co-owners at Trio Vintners, located in the winery incubator park in Walla Walla, WA
www.triovintners.com
Subscribe to this comment's feedwritten by laura k, October 22, 2009
written by DeniseSlattery, October 22, 2009
