White Wine
- Details
- Category: White Wine White Wine
- Published: 04 July 2020 04 July 2020
Inhaling the soft enticing aromas of this Californian Vinters Reserve Chardonnay, produced by Kendall-Jackson, I can’t help reflecting that this is possibly the most surreal year of my life.
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The lockdown, the death, the survival, the mean spirit of British and American incumbent governments (we have just had our freedom of movement in Europe taken away in order to assert that very freedom over our borders!), and, of course, the fact the Arctic circle is melting out in an incredible never-before-seen heatwave.
Methane is the new CO2
The methane emissions from thawing permafrost will accelerate the climate crisis by creating a self-reinforcing feedback of more melting and more warming. Very recent science suggests the Earth-system is taking over and our ability to reverse the heat-trend is becoming much more difficult.
Reset values?
As bleak as it all sounds there is a curvature of hope in the air. This existential pause imposed on the global population has forced many of us to take a fresh look at our value systems. It is not a moment too soon.
The world is changing. Wine is changing. It is being produced in new places and those producers in the old places are nervously monitoring that change. Weather extremes are becoming more extreme and people everywhere are learning to understand what the words resilience, adapt, and mitigate, really mean. We are in a flux and it will intensify.
Still... on terra firma
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This is a lovely wine at a fair price. I feel good about toasting with it because I know that the family behind the production of this wine care deeply about the world in which they operate. Last year I was in the audience in Porto at the climate change and wine conference when Katie Jackson gave an impassioned presentation of what sustainability means to their business.
We are moving to a consumer and producer relationship in which people care more about who makes their products and what their values are. We hear in Katie Jackson’s voice the sense of urgency and action when she alludes to the future her children are facing in an era of climate disruption. Conference host, Adrian Bridge, of The Fladgate Partnership, made the point that wine businesses are very often intergenerational businesses. Producers make decisions today and the consequence is felt for decades, even centuries.
Beyond neutrality
It is not about vague slogans around sustainability. It is about rigorously looking at the whole process of production, consumption and dealing with waste. Carbon neutrality is a stepping stone to becoming carbon negative.
With the attitudes of people changing across a swathe of issues that include equality, racism and climate change, there is hope that we can all take responsibility for the future that our decisions and actions help shape. That includes as much introspection as the judgement of others.
From the glass to the heavens... optimism reigns
With half of this bottle still smiling back at us on this blustery but warm July day… that in itself is a cause for optimism… Happy Independence Day, American friends!
Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay 2018 - nicely buttery, floral, with pineapple notes. When fully open there are lingering scents of butter and popcorn lingering in the glass. Very good value at £16.79 from Drinks Direct.
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