In 2018, wine industry thought leaders developed The Porto Protocol which states:
As wine producers, we strongly support and sustain rural communities and landscapes. Many of our vineyards are located in areas of great natural beauty, with rich histories and unique ecologies that we are committed to preserve.
The conversation continued in 2019 at the Conference about Climate Change & Wine Industry held again in Porto, Portugal. In 2019, the conference faced the climate challenge head on featuring former Vice President Al Gore, poster boy and presenter of An Inconvenient Truth (2006) which opened the eyes of many Americans to the challenges we face with regards to global warming and climate change.
I really wanted to attend the 2019 conference, but when in 2021, the Wine Future conversation went virtual with participants from all over the world converging from 4-8pm Madrid time– or 7am-11am Pacific time where I live in California– I could. And I did as a member of the press. What follows are some of the more important points from my notes from Wine Future 2021 Days 1 and 2 followed by notes from Days 3 and 4.
Clos des Amis winemaker Bruce Freeman shows a label during a February VeroTalk.
“The goal of life is rapture. Art is the way we experience it.” Joseph Campbell, in A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living
For Bruce Freeman and Gretel Compton of Clos des Amis, art is life, an avocation and a vocation. Both have worked as professional artists and teachers of art throughout their long careers, Continue reading →
“The seasons, changes of the land, and language of nature all speak to us. We have to listen; they are a vision of balance between our surroundings and ourselves. The earth is our mother. She nourishes us, that which we put into the ground she returns to us…” Kitá
In the Santa Ynez Chumash native language of Samala, “Kitá” means “Our Valley Oak.” The large gracious trees dot the Sant Ynez Valley, their extensive canopies providing shade and shelter with their acorns an important source of food for fauna and folk alike.
Sue Hill opens a bottle of Kitá Sparkling Roussanne under the oaks near Nojoqui Falls; Nojoqui is a Chumash word meaning “honeymoon place” or “meadow.”
As a testimony to the importance of the valley oak to the tribe and the ecosystem, Continue reading →
Camins 2 Dreams winemakers Tara Gomez and Mireia Taribó in their Lompoc tasting room.
“Wine adds a smile to friendship and a spark to love,” says Italian novelist, journalist, poet and short-story writer Edmondo de Amicis (October 21 1846 – March 11 1908.
Nowhere is this more true than at Camins 2 Dreams, which we learned last weekend on a winery visit “off the beaten path” with wife and wife winemakers Tara Gomez and Mireia Taribó.
