Sebastien Le Goff and I did a little wine and cheese pairing action at Vinocamp.

The focus was matching not only wines and cheeses that taste great together, but are also philosophically consistent. This is not just a question of scale, as many “boutique” wines and cheeses are made with commodity production methods.

Pairing 1: Baseline of mediocrity
A widely available and recognizable $25 cabernet-merlot wine made with industrial methods (irrigation, herbicides, commercial yeasts, acid adjustment, heavy fining/filtration, and likely oak chips) paired with Mini Babybel.

Pairing 2: farmstead wine and cheese
Venturi-Schulze Millefiori 2007 with Farmhouse Natural Cheeses St. George. The Millefiori is a blend of siegerrebe and ortega from Vancouver Island. Venturi-Schulze grows their own grapes organically (sans irrigation) and makes the wine themselves with native yeasts, no additions or adjustments and little to no sulfites. Farmhouse raises and milks their own goats before making the cheese themselves. They also organically grow the hay and alfalfa to feed the goats.

Pairing 3: Age-old methods
Movia Pinot Grigio 2005 with Ossau-Iraty Fermier. Ales Kristancic grows and makesawesome wine with centuries old techniques, biodynamic practices and the skill of an expert artisan. A delicious pairing with arguably the oldest cheese in the world, made in the Basque French Pyrenees for over 4000 years in traditional small huts.

Pairing 4: Tradition with a side of new
Agricola Marrone 2005 Langhe Chardonnay “Memundis” with Poplar Grove Harvest Moon. Gian Piero Marrone’s Chardonnay drinks like a white burgundy, while being a vinaroon wine, albeit with an international varietal in the Piedmont. The Harvest Moon tastes like a burgundy epoisse while being artisinally made in British Columbia, albeit with purchased milk.

Pairing 5: If you must have red wine with your cheese
Claus Preisinger “Basic” 2007 with Valdeon Blue. When pairing red wine with cheese, it should be light and fresh with high acidity. Claus blends two pinot noir relatives, zweigelt and blaufrankisch, to create a young and lively wine with the complexity often found with biodynamic practices. Its this combination of acidity, freshness and complexity that allows it to stand up to the pungent, complex Valdeon.

In 1994 seven farmers in a small Austrian village named Gols formed an alliance and called themselves Pannobile. The seven members of the group agreed to collaborate with each other, openly sharing ideas, experiences and support. Their goal was to create individual and unique wines that would compete with the very best of the world and would challenge the dawning globalization of wine.

The Pannobile Group has been at it for over ten years now and has added 2 more farmers for a total of nine members. Each works tirelessly to produce wines with native grape varieties that are an expression of the soils and special microclimate of Gols.

Every year the farmers present two wines, a red and a white, to the group to see if they will make the Pannobile grade or not. When a wine meets all the strict criteria the farmer is permitted to label that specific vintage ‘Pannobile’ and will likely sell out the wine before it’s even bottled.

The nine members of the Pannobile Group from left to right:

Helmuth Renner
Gernot Heirich
Hans Gsellmann
Judith Beck
Gerhard Pittnauer
Paul Achs
Claus Preisinger (2006 Zweigelt Pannobile is part of the Farmstead Wines Collection)
Hans Nittnaus
Gernot Leitner

Dear Chef,

Thank you for your dedication to our restaurant. For years, you have been scouring the earth for the best possible ingredients. You cultivate relationships with farmers and fisherman, even putting their names on your menus. Sometimes the products are local spot prawns from Steve, but often include the finest olive oil from an artisan farmer you met while traveling Italy for inspiration. Your hard work and passion create a menu that is delicious and truly sustainable. I applaud your efforts and must apologize for I have been remiss. I have been pairing your impeccable foods with wines that are anything but an agricultural product. Sure, here and there, I build a relationship with a local farmer (there are only a couple)- artisans who take a long view and are really trying to show what our regional terroir is like, but more often than not, your food is served alongside a wine-like beverage that has been irrigated and sprayed in the vineyard. And in the cellar, fermented with commercial yeasts and the acid adjusted just so with a bagful of tartaric. The best ones show well in a glass even though they are highly manipulated. It is time that I begin showing you the respect you deserve. From now on, I will work diligently to source wines that are not only tasty, but are a true agricultural product, like the foodstuffs you showcase on your menus nightly. I will begin pairing your food with wines made by the very same farmers who grow the grapes. Farmed naturally and without manipulation in the cellar, these wines are a time capsule- a true product of the earth. Although the farms are small and often unknown, I am confident that our guests will prefer wines meant to be shared around a table.

This years Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival played host to a panel discussion on the state of sustainability in the wine industry. The panel represented many facets of the wine industry who discussed a range of issues surrounding ‘green wine’ and how it is being marketed. The wide range of topics raised during the symposium is testament to the fact that sustainable agriculture is a complex issue. It seams average wine drinkers are having a tough time making informed decisions at wine stores and restaurants. For example, many of the 150 attendees from the public and trade seemed unclear about the organic certification process in British Columbia. Mischa Popoff, previously employed as a inspector, recalled numerous accounts of fraud from certified organic farms and criticized the system as its difficult to hold such farms accountable. Mischa pointed out that for the most part the certification process is self certifying with farms subject to rare surprise inspections (for which they get 48 hours notice). Considering common dishonesty and varying certification standards around the world, its not surprising that consumers don’t trust wines labeled as organic. No longer a inspector Mischa continues working with the certification body to try and improve the process to help promote honest organic farmers.

Anthony Nicalo’s solution was a call for transparency in labeling. He argued that unlike almost all other food products, industrial wineries are not required to list all of the ingredients on the label. If the consumer could see a list of typical ingredients like artificial yeast, enzymes, extracts and synthetic chemicals on the label they would be able to make an informed decision about that particular wine. It’s my belief that the market would choose to support natural wines which would place significant pressure on the industrial wineries. Here an example from Randall Graham of Bonny Doon Wines of how honest labeling might look.

Transparent labeling might still be a way off, so in the meantime I encourage you to simply ask questions about how the wine has been farmed. Restaurants who care about the provenance of their ingredients and wine stores who stock the highest quality wines will have a good understanding about the farming practices of the wines they promote. Asking your sommelier about the provenance of the wines will give them the confidence to add sustainable wines to their stores and wine lists. The very best part in my opinion is that you will also be more likely to get a wine with real character, that expresses a time and a place and is made for enjoying around the table.

It’s my understanding that the green wine symposium is scheduled to become a permanent fixture at the annual event and I fully support the Playhouse Wine Festival for initiating such discussions. I hope to see some real outcomes from this event implemented in the years to come.

Marc Tempe’s wines are ridiculous. Complex, intricate, agricultural specimens while seemingly works of art at times. They work with an amazing range of food, but have a special affinity for dishes with spice and complexity. Like Vij’s delicious Indian food as noted by the gentlemen of Cherries and Clay.

Marc’s story has been fantastically told by Betrand Celce of WineTerroirs

People and companies making strides in Pro Wine
-The Natural Process Alliance for great farming and winemaking practices coupled with innovative distribution.
-Magnanimus Wine Group for moving California wine towards authenticity while trying to prove it can be done at scale.
-Amy Atwood for seeking out the people and wines leading the Pro Wine movement at her blog, My Daily Wine.
-Randall Graham of Bonny Doon for bringing honesty and transparency to wine labeling.
-Hardy Wallace for making wine fun and accessible.
-Cory Cartwright of Saignee has created an amazing discussion about natural wine.

I’m certain there are lots more. Share them in the comments, please.