Celebrate With Organic Wines and Cocktails

Thanksgiving. Christmas. Hanukkah. Kwanzaa. New Years. Just reading the names of these holidays can stir up feelings of excitement, wonder and celebration. We get together with people we love and celebrate life. We eat and drink and talk about the year that was, the year that will be and our hopes for the future. And we give thanks for the many things we have been given.

Celebrations like these require special food and drink. We make huge dinners and surround ourselves with trays of sweets. We also make toasts with rich, full glasses of wine and sparkling, red studded cocktails.

This year, as more American's have turned to green living practices, there are a growing number of products available to celebrate the holidays green too. Organic turkeys, locally grown produce, LED twinkle lights and other increasingly popular eco-friendly product are now at our disposal. And now, so are sustainable wines and spirits.

Sustainable wines and spirits include libations that have been made using organically grown grapes, environmentally-friendly business and/or farming practices, and recyclable packaging. For any green wine, liquor or beer, read the label to understand how the company is sustainable or do a little poking around online to find a label that you are comfortable with. Not all may follow the same guidelines as to what they constitute "sustainable"

Green Spirits

A number of distilleries are now developing green spirits. International distilleries like Reyka Vodka are creating their product using the renewable geothermal energy that exists under Iceland. Others like Square One Organic Vodka are using organically grown products as the base for their liquor. The company uses organic rye and spring water produced in the Midwest United States and gets 25% of its distillery's energy from wind farms. For tequila fans, there is only one USDA-certified organic tequila available. The 4Copas from Mexico is made using no pesticides or growth hormones and is packaged using recycled paper.

These cocktails are popping up more and more at local restaurants and bars and may be a perfect addition to a company holiday party. When possible, ask about local distillers in your area that may have an eco-friendly vodka or tequila you can add to your cocktail list.

Sustainable Wines

Wine makers were early pioneers of organics in the United States. Many wineries are turning to sustainable farming and cultivating practices to make high-quality red and white organic wines. Oregon organic wines like the Eco-Wine from Amity Vineyard have no detectable sulfites. Others like the wines made in California's Beckmen Vineyards or Gypsy Canyon Winery are biodynamic, meaning that they were farmed using an all-natural system of farming, without chemicals or synthetic fertilizers. They also use the farms own resources to maintain and sustain the crop. The strength in these wines is that the makers have figured out sustainable practices they can follow that still produce incredible, unique wines. With a table full of fresh sweet potatoes, carrots and home-made stuffing, a bold glass of an organic wine is an excellent way to toast to the many things we should be thankful for.

~Ben Anton, 2008

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/food-and-beverage-articles/celebrate-with-organic-wines-and-cocktails-664340.html

• Bison Brewing-Bison brewers have a long history of innovation, using unique ingredients such as honey, sage, basil, chocolate, cranberry and coriander to augment the characteristics of beers primary ingredients: malt, yeast, water, and hops.
• Butte Creek Brewing-Chico microbrewers of Organic Ale, Organic IPA, Organic Porter, Roland Red, Creekside Wheat, Spring Ale, Gold Ale, Summer Pilsner, Winter Ale and Christmas Ale.
• Eel River Brewing Company-AMERICAS FIRST CERTIFED ORGANIC BREWERY Speaking of organic beer, with unabashed shamelesness we proudly advertise we were the first ever fully certified organic beer in Humboldt County, In California , in the USA … hell maybe in the world or the whole universe!
• Orlio Organic-All of Orlio Organic Beer Company ales and lagers proudly display the seal of organic certification which means we meet the exacting standards of both the Vermont Organic Farmers and the USDA.
• Otter Creek Brewing-One of the nation's original certified organic breweries, Wolaver's is committed to producing the best beer in the most ecologically sound way. Our craft ales are brewed using the finest organic malts, hops, our special house yeast, and pure Vermont water.
• Santa Cruze Mountain Brewing-This tiny brewery tucked away in a courtyard on Ingalls Street, a few blocks from Natural Bridges State Beach on the west side of Santa Cruz, makes excellent beer.
• Stone Mill by Michelob-Stone Mill Organic Pale Ale is made with 100% organic barley malt, certified by the USDA for a classic taste that is the perfect balance of maltiness and hop bouquet.
• Uncomon Brewers-Uncommon Brewers (UB) is a community-oriented organic microbrewery beginning operations in Santa Cruz county. Incorporating traditional Belgian brewing techniques, cutting-edge innovation from the modern West Coast, and grounded in the principles of sustainability voiced by the Slow Food Movement, our goal is to make uncommon beers for uncommon people.

• Benzinger-Biodynamics is the highest form of organic farming in the world. It goes beyond the elimination of all chemicals. It incorporates the environment in and around the vineyard to produce wines of authenticity, place and ultimately the passion of the people who make it.
• Bodegas Robles-"Our generous Spanish wines (typical wines of the south of Spain) are aged following without even system of mixture, fruit largely of the naivete Andalusian and the accumulated experience by our equipment of production in more than seventy and five years, in addition to a touch of good fortune."
• Bonterra Wines-The certified organic Bonterra Ranch, in the Russian River benchlands of Mendocino, is perhaps the finest expression of our philosophy that respect for the land will result in exceptional wines. Not surprisingly, it is also one of the premier examples of organic viticulture in the world.
• Eco Vine Wine Club-Discover EcoVine Wines made with organic grapes OR hard-to-find Organic Wines with no sulfites added ("NSA"), Biodynamic Wine, and Vegan Wine.
• Frey Vinyards-Frey Vineyards is the oldest (since 1980) and largest purely organic winery in the United States, family owned and operated from the start. It is also the first in the country to produce Biodynamic® wines.
• Frogs Leap Winery-Using the best of Napa Valley's organically grown grapes and the most traditional winemaking techniques, Frogs' leap strives to produce wines that deeply relect the soil and climate from which they emanate.
• Grgich Hills Estate-Grgich Hills Estate is a family-owned winery dedicated to the art of winemaking. Our wines are made completely from organically and Biodynamically grown grapes in Napa Valley, California.
• Iberium-Biodynamics is a science of life-forces, a recognition of the basic principles at work in nature, and an approach to agriculture which takes these principles into account to bring about balance and healing. In a very real way, then, Biodynamics is an ongoing path of knowledge rather than an assemblage of methods and techniques.
• Organic Vintners-Organic Vintners is dedicated to bringing wine lovers a broad selection of certified organic wines from around the world that are better for the environment and your health.
• The Organic Wine Company-The Organic Wine Company brings you world-class organically grown wines from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, California, New Zealand, Argentina and Chile.

• 4 Copas Tequilla-Enjoy the purity on your palate that organically certified agave plants bring, crafted with loving care by dignified hands gracing 3 generations of family and community traditions.
• Juniper Green-Take a sip of Juniper Green Organic London Dry Gin and you are tasting history, this is the world's first, and only, organic gin.
• Orange V-With Orange V, the citrus flavor is right out there in front, coating your tongue with an intense flavor of oranges. But we're not talking about the Tang of chemical orange flavors, either...this is the real stuff.
• Papagayo Organic White Rum-Papagayo Organic Rum is the world's first Organic Rum. It is a Single Estate rum not a blend of produce from many countries as in the case of the better known rums. It is a rum to be savored and with cola or even better, your favorite fruit juice.
• Square One Vodka-Vodkas are prized for their purity, so the idea of an organic vodka was both viable and exciting…Thus Allison set out to create the greenest clear spirit yet. And she started at…square one, with the purest ingredients she could find: pristine spring water from the Teton mountains and organically certified North Dakota-grown rye.
• True Organic Spirits-With an innovative and activist approach to their craft, Modern Spirits has captured the attention of the food and spirits world with their line of uniquely infused Artisan Vodkas, TRU Organic vodkas and gin, and with the recent development of Spirits Institute.
• Veev-Veev is the worlds first Acai (Pronounced ah-SIGH-ee) spirit and is siply "a better way to drink" ACAI is the exotic tasting Brazillian national fruit popularized by surfers and sports enthusiasts and is considered the worlds preeminent superfruit.
• Vodka 14-Vodka 4 boasts a USDA Organic Certification, distinguishing it from virtually all other top-shelf vodkas. This certification denotes a commitment to enviormentally sustainable farming, as most people know, but it is also, and perhaps more importantly, a testimant to the overall quality of our vodka.