Naked Wines picks: three delicious bottles for World Earth Day
In Libby’s Naked Wines diary this week, it’s the top picks for World Earth Day
On 22 April we celebrate Earth Day so I have sought out some wines that are going above and beyond to make this world a better place – and are tasty drops, too.
Naked Wines bottles of the week
Silverhand Estate, England Saving the Planet
Kent’s Silverhand Estate is the UK’s largest single organic vineyard and this year announced a groundbreaking achievement by also becoming the UK’s first carbon-negative wine growers.
This means they remove more CO2 from the atmosphere than they produce, going beyond carbon neutrality to actively offset greenhouse gases. What is more, they are doing this without relying on carbon offsetting but instead reducing emissions, farming sustainably and running a dedicated conservation team. This is pretty impressive stuff for a winery that produces more sparkling wine than anyone else in the country. The Silver Reign range is a delight and, being made by the charmat method like Prosecco, can offer English sparkling wine at a more competitive price (silverhandestate.com, £17) but they go right up to royalty with their flagship KYNG (£245). Made using the traditional method like champagne, this wine is also aged for a minimum of five years on the lees and opens to a whiff of parmesan before swiftly moving onto balsamic strawberries and settling down as a biscuit-based strawberry cheesecake. It’s complex and swift-moving and utterly fantastic. You can even get it in its own impressive bespoke wine-cooler packaging (£395).
Symington Family Estate, Portugal Saving The Animals
The Symington Family Estate is putting animals front and centre. They were already the first wine company in Portugal to become certified B Corp and were named ‘Green Company of the Year’ in the Drinks Business Green Awards last November. Now they have launched the Altano Rewilding red (Ocado, £10.50): every bottle sold goes towards Rewilding Portugal’s conservation projects, which have stabilised the wolf population and improved the status of the Iberian Lynx from near extinction, though they remain “vulnerable”. They have removed illegal hunting traps and reintroduced semi-wild Sorraia horses and wild cattle to promote traditional grazing practises. The wine is a blend of regional grapes including Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz. It’s fresh and fruit-forward, while putting the natural local wildlife first.
Sea Change Wine, Global Saving The Sea
One of the OG planet-saving wines, Sea Change was born from a love of the ocean and the life within it, working with wines from all over the world to produce great bottles with natural corks, no plastic wrap and labels made from sustainable forests and grape waste. Each purchase donates to their conservation charity partners and they have raised over €600,000 from wine sales alone – that’s a lot of worthwhile drinking! All the classics are catered for, including Italian Proseccos, French Picpouls, Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignons and New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, though my pick of the bunch is the award-winning Negroamaro (seachangewine.com, £12.49). Rich, plummy and silky smooth, you can even lightly chill this for the summer months.
Compagniesdrift, South Africa Saving The People
When we talk about Sustainability in wine, we increasingly include the impact on the local community and the people who work for the company. Many wineries are bringing in initiatives to provide healthcare, education and community projects but Compagniesdrift is a particularly fascinating model. Established through Meerlust’s Myburgh Family Trust to create meaningful economic empowerment, they provided land and built a facility to be given over to and run by the local farm workers. Originally a wine storage, bottling and labelling facility, they also produce their own excellent wines such as the delicious still white Chardonnay Pinot Noir blend (oncloudwine.com, £70 for a case of six). Meerlust’s owner Hannes Myburgh has always been forward-thinking and liberal and he explained how he has wanted to give the workers “hope and something they themselves could own and manage” – and it has certainly succeeded as the company now works with 80 wine producers in the area storing up to three million bottles. Being an eco-warrior has never been easier or more enjoyable!
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