Hey guys!
This week’s a fun one; we’re diving into how wine travels sustainably, how I ended up filling a tub of wine for a friend’s wedding, and how one rising star in Italy is making wine his own way. Enjoy! 🍷
When Sustainable Wine Has to Travel 🚢
How natural winemakers are rethinking shipping and packaging to stay true to their values
Pictured: Cargo Ship, Image by FreightWaves
Something I find fascinating about wine is how it travels. We often talk about terroir, the land, the grapes, the people, but not the journey that bottle takes to get to us. Most natural winemakers care deeply about sustainability, farming organically and minimizing waste. Yet once their bottles are ready, they still need to move (by truck across Europe or by ship to the U.S.) and that transportation creates tons of carbon emissions. Some producers even refuse to export because they feel it contradicts their values, while others are looking for lower-impact options. Companies like Grain de Sail, for example, use sail-powered cargo ships to move wine across the Atlantic with almost zero emissions.
Pictured: Grain de Sail, Image by WineEnthusiast
Packaging adds another big piece to the puzzle. According to research from 9Trees, packaging and transport together can make up about half of a wine’s total carbon footprint. Heavy glass bottles require lots of energy to produce and ship. That’s why more producers are turning to lighter glass, aluminum cans, steel kegs, or even refillable bottles; changes that dramatically cut emissions. These choices might seem small, but switching from a 550-gram bottle to a 420-gram one can significantly lower a winery’s carbon output.
Pictured: Alternative Vessels, Image by Tincknell & Tincknell
There’s no perfect solution, but the conversation itself is important. Natural winemakers are starting to treat transport and packaging with the same care they give their vineyards. Whether it’s finding clean ways to export, sailing wine across the ocean, or rethinking what a “bottle” looks like, these producers are proving that sustainability doesn’t stop at the vineyard or cellar, it extends all the way to how the wine reaches your glass.
The Wedding Wine Assignment 💍
If your oldest friend asks you to fill a tub of wine for his wedding, the only right answer is yes
Some dear friends of ours got married last week, and they had one of the most fun (and slightly dangerous) ideas I’ve heard for a wedding. The groom, who I’ve known since kindergarten, called me up and said, “I need you to fill an ice bath tub with wine.” That was the whole brief. A generous budget and full creative control. Music to my ears.
Pictured: Discovery Wines, Image by Discovery Wines
At first, I wasn’t totally sure where to start. A wedding crowd is tricky; you want bottles that’ll make wine drinkers happy, pull the non-drinkers in, and keep everyone’s parents smiling. Luckily, I live problematically close to one of New York’s best wine shops, Discovery Wines, and their team was more than happy to help me out. We spent an afternoon building the cases: chilled reds, fresh whites, a couple of orange wines, and one or two wildcards that I would keep to the side. The goal was to make sure anyone who reached into that tub pulled out something they’d actually enjoy.
Pictured: Wine Ice Bath
A few days later, after picking the wines and hauling the cases to upstate New York, we chilled everything down and kicked off the night with a pizza party. The scene couldn’t have been better; a stack of pies, a crowd in good spirits, and an ice bath container filled with wine. By the end of the night, the tub was picked completely clean. I’d call that a win.
I’m not saying every wedding needs a tub of wine, but it definitely doesn’t hurt. The happy couple got exactly what they wanted and we had an excuse to keep refilling our glasses.
Here are a few from the lineup that I actually remembered to photograph:
Pictured: Maison en Belles Lies, Vin Noe, Aitia, Famille Mousse, Dard & Ribo, Jean-Marie Berrux
Producer Highlight ⭐
One of our favorite parts of wine is the discovery: we’re constantly being put on to new regions, producers, and cuvées from our friends. We’ll never be able to try EVERY wine, but we want to take a moment to mention some producers that excite us!
Stefano Zoli 🍷
Location: Matelica, Marche, Italy 📍
Pictured: Marche, Italy, Image by Britannica
Originally from northern Italy’s Romagna region, Stefano Zoli didn’t plan on making white wine. He studied viticulture and oenology at the University of Bologna and started his career working with Sangiovese, the classic red grape of Central Italy. But after a visit to Matelica, a small valley in the Marche surrounded by mountains, his vision changed. The landscape, the altitude, and the purity of the Verdicchio grape completely hooked him and he knew that it was where he wanted to make wine.
Pictured: Stefano Zoli, Image by Stelle Wine Co
Today, Stefano farms a small vineyard of old Verdicchio vines by hand. His approach is simple, minimal work in the vineyard, spontaneous fermentations, and a real focus on letting the grape do the talking. His wines are alive: bright, salty, and textured (it’s hard to describe but easy to taste.) Every choice he makes, from when to pick to how often to stir the lees, comes down to intuition and balance. Even though he’s only a few vintages in, his wines are amazing.
Pictured: Stefano Zoli Verdicchio, Image by Leon & Sons
I first tried Stefano’s wines at Plus de Vin last year, and they’ve been stuck in my head ever since. The entry level bottling has so much tension and character, and his higher-end bottlings take it to another level. I had one recently at Peasant in Manhattan, and it completely blew me away. I’ve been on a mission lately to dive deeper into lesser-known Italian grapes, and Stefano’s wines have become one of my favorite reference points for Verdicchio, pure, textural, and full of energy.
Pictured: Zoli Wines at Peasant NYC
If interested, Leon & Sons has some of his wines in stock! You can find them here:
Wine Club Updates 🍷 📦
Just a quick update on the wine club, the October shipment will go out next week! Thanks again for your patience as we get things rolling. Let us know if you have any questions, and if you’re interested in joining, you can sign up below!
That’s it for today! Reminder: there are a ton of great wine events happening this October, you can check them out in last week’s post.
Thanks so much for reading, and as always, drink responsibly! 🥂