Anthony Gismondi: Saving our planet, one bottle at a time

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When you are regularly tasting wine, you notice things most consumers don’t. I’m thinking about rosé that is so dark you can’t see through the bottle, or corks on early-drinking wines, that should be finished with a screwcap. You notice busy labels, no labels and just plain bad-looking labels.

You notice what I would describe as spare labels with just the right amount of information — that is usually on a clean white label that leads me to notice how many wineries insist on black labels. Black with silver or gold writing is everywhere, forcing you to flash the bottle up and down and left and right until the light catches the wording and you can actually read the writing on the label

We are not supposed to comment on design because, frankly, it has nothing to do with quality. However, I would often argue a correlation between a clean, understated wine label and the wine itself versus a noisy, cluttered look-at-me-bottle and the wine inside. In the end, there is no accounting for taste; as we say, it only matters what’s in the glass.

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But what about the glass? I’ve long admired appellations that can launch a bottle that everyone in the region can embrace.

In 1937, the union of the owners of the appellation of Châteauneuf-du-Pape created an original bottle, the famous bottle with the embossed logo. The logo symbolizes a papal tiara placed above the keys of St. Peter with the inscription: “Châteauneuf-du-Pape contrôlé” written in Gothic letters around the emblem. Distinctive in promoting the region and useful in preventing fraud, one wonders what we could do in the Okanagan?

Last week a leading Italian producer took on the problem of bottle weights, rightly surmising that if you are going to save the earth by going sustainable or growing organic or biodynamic, you need to care about bottle weight as it pertains to your wine.

“For the past two years, the Alois Lageder Winery has been selling its wines with an elegant bow made of paper and with natural cork. They have all but dispensed with a capsule or screw cap for the bottle closure and with it, any metal or other material difficult to recycle,” explains communications and marketing director Helena Lageder.

This month the winery continues to lighten its load with a new wine bottle weighing in at a svelte 450g. The change started in 2013 when they traded their 750g bottles to 650g. Now, the winery is moving to 450g for all wines. The new, never seen before Burgundy-shaped bottle was made with the help of a partner and will significantly reduce the weight while remaining a robust container of high quality and design.

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With this innovation, the Alois Lageder Winery has reduced its glass consumption from 512 tons to 425 tons. That is a total of 87 tons or 17 per cent less glass produced and transported annually. It is environmentally relevant in terms of CO2 emissions, and less weight is also reflected in transport.

Most importantly, the Summa bottle, as it is known, was deliberately not patented by the family to motivate other wineries looking to switch to lighter packaging access to the bottle. The change at Lageder makes its entire production lightweight, including the “Bordeaux blends” already bottled in lightweight Bordeaux-shaped bottles.

The family explains that “Glass is one of the best recyclable materials; however glass production, is one of the most energy-intensive manufacturing processes. Therefore, a reduction in manufacturing brings positive environmental effects through less use of gas or oil — the two fuels for melting — and lower energy-related CO2 emissions. Glass is made from sand, ash, soda ash, and limestone. So producing less glass means mining fewer raw materials and thus conserving resources.”

All of which brings me back to the B.C. and hope that a lightweight, embossed bottle with a distinctive British Columbia logo could be an idea worth pursuing. We all need lofty goals.

Weekend wine picks

Liquidity Pinot Gris 2019, Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

$20 | 89/100

UPC: 626990442622

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The Gris is estate grown from an older block of clone 457, planted in 1998. It is whole-cluster-pressed and cool-fermented in stainless steel and presents fresh and lively green apple and pear aromas. The palate is another notch up in weight and silkiness with melon, lemon and mineral, dusted in sage and honey — a perfect companion to vegetable pasta, lemon chicken, or curry roasted cauliflower.

Clos du Soleil Winemaker’s Series La Côte Vineyard Viognier 2019, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia, Canada

$22.90 I 90/100

UPC: 626990345015

Clos du Soleil owns and runs an organically farmed estate named La Côte Vineyard. The upper bench Keremeos fruit is the subject of this wine. Wisley fermented in older French puncheons, it is aged on its lees for five months. I love the slimmed-down style, and the minerality and brightness of the Similkameen are shining through in the form of ripe orchard fruits and a full, juicy, spicy finish with barely a whisper of sugar. A definite winner if you like the leaner Viognier style.

Sartarelli Classico Verdicchio 2019, Marche, Italy

$26.99 I 89/100

UPC: 8032919700018

A light, straw-yellow colour previews a delightful white wine seemingly built for the west coast table. The Verdicchio grape is a fun journey yielding tight, grassy green apple aromas and crunchy pear/green melon flavours flecked with melon and tangerine rind with a delicate citrus current flowing through the wine. The Sartarelli family is committed to the historical preservation of Verdicchio in Castelli di Jesi as they move to elevate the reputation of the grape, and it has been doing it for over four decades. A perfect wine for butter clams, pesto pastas and vegetarian sushi rolls.

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Arrogant Frog Ribet Red Cabernet Sauvignon — Merlot 2009, Languedoc, Sud de France

$11.49 | 86/100

UPC: 03760040424941

The not-so-arrogant Frog is a fun 55/45 mix of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot awash in savoury soft Languedoc fruit representing terrific value. It’s grown between the Mediterranean Sea and the Hérault Valley from vines 20 to 40-year-old vines. The palate is packed full of black jammy fruit with bits of chocolate and blackberries and warm glossy vanilla (25 per cent new French oak aging) finish. A modern style red from the south of France mad for summer backyard ‘cues.

Bartier Bros. Cabernet Franc Cerqueira Vineyard 2019, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

$28.99 I 89/100

UPC: 628055147107

Clean and insightful, this is a very pure franc that reflects the Bartier mantra to do whatever makes sense in the vineyard and then do as little as possible in the winery.  The fruit comes off the Black Sage Terrace home site, Cerqueira Vineyard and mixes approximately ten per cent Merlot with franc to keep it supple and round. The nose and palate mix savoury red/black fruit with a hint of leaf and earth.  It’s native fermented, on skins for a day, and aged a year in French oak barrels. Flavours run from black plums to licorice root with an undercurrent of white pepper and light baking spices — a perfect steak wine. There is significant value here that you can drink or hold.

Recipe match: BBQ baby back ribs

Nothing says ‘summer’ quite like barbecued ribs. This recipe from the team at Savoury City Catering sticks close to the classic — albeit with a little twist. Serve these ribs with your favourite barbecue sauce or test out the homemade mix for an even tastier treat.

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BBQ Baby Back Ribs

2 full pork baby back ribs

1 carrot, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

4 chipotles in adobo sauce

2 cinnamon sticks

2 sprigs fresh thyme

3 bay leaves

1 x 5 1/2 oz (155 mL) can tomato paste

1 tbsp (15 mL) kosher salt

Water or vegetable stock to cover

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Place ribs into a casserole dish or ovenproof pan. Whisk tomato paste with a bit of water or stock to loosen and thin out the tomato paste and pour the mixture over the ribs. Add the rest of the ingredients, then add water or stock to completely cover the ribs.

Cover the pan completely with foil wrap, making a few small holes for steam to escape.

Place in the preheated 375 F oven for 1 hour, then decrease oven temperature to 300 F and continue cooking for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Ribs should be tender but not falling apart.

Remove from liquid and place onto a baking sheet to cool.

OVEN: When ribs are completely cooled, brush both sides with BBQ sauce, and place in a preheated 400 F oven to heat and caramelize, for about 10 to 15 minutes. Watch to avoid burning. You want the ribs to be sticky and the glaze to be caramelized, but not burnt.

BBQ: Heat ribs on a preheated grill without the BBQ sauce. Heat fully, then brush ribs with sauce and let caramelize, brushing on more sauce as needed. The sauce should heat up and caramelize within 5 to 10 minutes, watch carefully to avoid burning.

Makes 2 full racks of ribs. Serves 2 to 4.

BBQ sauce

2 oz (60 mL) unsalted butter

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1 yellow onion, finely chopped

2 cups (500 mL) ketchup

1/2 cup (125 mL) brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup (60 mL) lemon juice

1/4 cup (60 mL) Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup (60 mL) cider vinegar

1 tsp (5 mL) dry mustard powder

1 tsp (5 mL) cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper, to taste

Melt butter and sweat onions in a pot until soft. Add all other ingredients and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Season to taste.

Makes 3 cups (750 mL).

Recipe Match

BBQ Baby Back Ribs slathered in BBQ sauce similar style reds with big fruit and mouth presence.

Tiger Horse Old Vine Cinsault 2019, Western Cape, South Africa $12.99

Cinsault is mostly unheralded wherever it’s planted, or at the very most, it ends up in a blend of Shiraz and Grenache or the like, but this Boutinot label from the Cape is a solo version and a pretty good one. The vines are 40-plus years old, and they yield an intense dark cherry that slides down easily. Add a bit of cola and brown spices, and you have the perfect red for lamb chops or chicken brochette — almost Pinot Noir-like at a great price.

Joel Gott Zinfandel 2018, California, United States $22.99

If you are looking for an uncomplicated, easy-sipping, deeply-fruited zinfandel, this is it. Look for a perfect mix of raspberries, blackberries, blueberry jam, and spice that fills the palate from front to back. Ribs on the barbecue and this wine are the perfect marriage. Ready to drink.