"cabernetsauvignon" news and stories

A few weeks ago I listed my 2009 wine predictions, including one under "wishful thinking" about box wine, PET bottles, and lighter, alternative forms of packaging becoming mainstream. Now it seems we're one step closer: a California wine company is bottling (or would that be "bagging") a Cabernet Sauvignon in a cardboard tube.

According to the company, Four Wine reduces carbon footprint by 50 percent and reduces landfill waste by 85 percent compared with traditional glass packaging. The packaging is 100 percent recyclable.

As far as I can tell, this wine is boxed wine of a different shape, an attempt at marketing to people who want to be green but don't want the stigma of serving from a box. It has a bag and spigot, but the packaging is a bit more upscale than your generic box brand. And hey, if wine snobs latch on, who cares if the cardboard packaging is a rolled tube or a rectangular box?

I haven't tried the wine, but it's supposed to be a premium brand with lower prices since you're not paying as much for shipping. A 3-liter tube (the equivalent of four bottles) retails at $39. Tried it? What do you think?

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One of my favorite stores to wander into when I'm downtown is the Ten Thousand Villages Fair Trade Store. The merchandise is always high quality and a remarkably good value despite the fact that the people who craft the items are assured timely and fair payment for their work, plus ongoing contracts to guarantee future income.

Now Fair Trade has come to the wine world with the first nationwide introduction of Fair Trade Certified wine. So what does "Fair Trade" really mean? In the wine world, many family vineyards in developing countries have a tough time meeting market demand for quality grapes AND paying their workers enough, ensuring safe working conditions, and getting a good enough price for the crop to eke out their own living.

Fair Trade Certified means a producer is guaranteed a minimum price for the grapes, their workers earn a living wage, and wine-producing communities receive community development funding. At Stellar Organics Fair Trade Certified vineyard in South Africa, for example, workers have established a commercial community organic vegetable garden with its own educational garden used to train children in organic farming. Income from the garden and vineyard go into a university education fund for children of the workers.

Continue reading "Wine of the Week: Fair Trade wine" after the jump.