I’m serious about starting off the new year greenly — which is why I saved not just one, but two guides to eco-friendly bubblies: Grist’s guide to distinctive, affordable, eco-friendly sparkling wines and Low Impact Living’s guide to 9 domestic sparkling wines.
I printed those out — on one-side-used paper, of course — and headed to Co-opportunity, my neighborhood co-op grocer, then to Whole Foods. Sadly, neither eco-conscious store had any of the bubblies in stock! I did, however, find a Vida Organica sparkling chardonnay (right) at Whole Foods and decided to give it a try. The bottle cost $12.99, but only $12.94 for me because I got my 5 cent refund for taking my own bag –
Theoretically, one should save the bubbly for New Year’s Eve — but for the sake of the blog that’d help everyone else prep for the last day of 2008, I went ahead and popped the cork (hihi!).
This sparkling chardonnay tasted like — chardonnay with bubbles. I recommend this bottle from Vida Organica if 1) you always thought chardonnay might taste even better carbonated, 2) you generally find champagne and sparkling wine too dry for your taste, or 2) you’re not picky. Otherwise, I recommend that you look harder for the sparklers on the Grist or Low Impact Living lists.
Post-drinking, the bottle went in the recycling bin, but the cork, foil and wire cage remained, ready for the DWR Champagne Chair Contest! Yep, those seeking to make their New Year’s Eve celebrations zero waste can upcycle their champers detritus into a lilliputian chair. The lucky winner gets a $1,330 eco-friendly Morgans Chair in polished aluminum; two other winners will be awarded less costly but still pricy chairs (Anyone else wonder why DWR stands for Design WITHIN Reach? Anyway…).
You do have to get that chair entry in before Friday, Jan. 9 — which means you’ll want to get to work right away when you wake up on New Year’s Day. To help you out, Treehugger’s put together a list of the Top Green Hangover Remedies. In my experience, the only cure that actually works reasonably quickly is the hair of the dog, though most might consider that more a delay tactic than an actual cure. Still, if you can delay the hangover for 9 days….
Top photo by Siel; bottom image via DWR.com
Try Trader Joe’s. I don’t know if they have those exact years, but I bought a Domain Ste. Michelle there yesterday.
Comment by Aryn — December 29, 2008 @ 4:41 pm
Foil? I don’t see any foil in the photo. I like the bottles without foil because usually those capsules contain some plastic.
Anyway, I’m just wondering if you are planning on testing and reviewing any other organic sparkling wines because from your description, that one sounds not so great. Not a big chardonnay fan here to begin with. And I tend to like wines that are extra dry.
Comment by Beth Terry, aka Fake Plastic Fish — December 30, 2008 @ 1:07 am
At this point I can’t remember whether I’d already removed the foil b/4 taking the photo, or just imagined it — It just all happened too many drinks ago. However, I can assure you there was no plastic involved.
In any case, getting a bottle with foil might be useful for those interested in taking part in the DWR contest :)
The sparkling chard wasn’t bad — just not my fave, as I too am not a huge chard fan and prefer dry wines.
Aryn — Thanks for the TJs tip. I tend not to go v. often b/c it’s not in walking distance like WF and the Co-op, but maybe I’ll drop by today –
Comment by Siel — December 30, 2008 @ 1:58 pm