Claus Preisinger has been getting lots of love around the interwebs these days. Mark Prince, aka CoffeeGeek has been tweeting about Claus’ awesome Pannobile.

Jake and Kurtis from the badass blog, Cherries and Clay, wrote about two of Claus’s wines for 31 Days of Natural Wine over at Cory Cartwright’s fantastic Saignee.

Have you tried any of Claus Preisinger’s wines lately? What do you think?

You can run, but you can’t hide.

From Gary Vaynerchuk to Barack Obama, leaders are pushing boundaries and utilizing technology to bring increased transparency to a range of industries. While government labeling law remains the subject of intense debate and political maneuvering, the ability to discover information about a range of products is growing daily. And it couldn’t come at a better time. In the agricultural sector consumer demand for better information is driven by regular reports of ecoli, salmonella and other unsafe foodstuffs. As an agricultural product, wine is likely to be subject to the same demands for disclosure of provenance. Some producers are already beginning to inform consumers of the ingredients used in the wine-making and grape-growing process. But the benefits of increased transparency extend beyond sustainability advocates and will someday allow a wine lover to assess quality by something other than a pretty label.

Wine, like many agricultural products, exists in a backwards world. The farmers and producers who have a sense of stewardship and try to work in harmony with nature have to prove it and those who use petro-chemical based fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides are at liberty to disclose nothing. Some argue that farming regulations are stringent enough to protect the public health, but “food safety” guidelines are subject to extreme manipulation by industrial agri-business. Hence, it is illegal in many places to buy milk from your neighboring dairy farm, even if the scientific evidence indicates it is probably safer from a human health perspective than that which meets the so called guidelines.

Organic and biodynamic certifications, while perhaps improving a consumers idea of the farming and wine-making practices still leave much to be desired. For example, USDA organic standards require no added sulfites, but make no distinction between potassium-bisulfite used during fermentation and sulphur added at bottling. These two methods of employing a preservative have dramatically different results in the percentage free sulfites in the wine itself. Disclosure of free sulfites in parts per million would allow consumers to compare apples to apples. The certifications themselves often further confuse the issue, with many consumers believing that wines made from organically grown grapes are free from additives in the cellar. This confusion is likely to persist, as regulators fumble around the issue supported by corporate wine marketers who have a stake in obfuscating the process of wine-making. On the other hand, demands for sustainability will encourage green-washing. The debate will remain vociferous on both sides for years to come with extremist arguments from both industrial and natural camps.

While not completely free of controversy, there is much less debate about the methods of making great wine. Low yields per vine, no irrigation, careful pruning, natural farming, and hand-harvesting are some of the practices in the vineyard that go a long way to determining quality. There are also common cellar techniques associated with superior wines: native yeast fermentation usually indicate healthy vineyards, ripe grapes are preferred to sugar additions, oak barrels over tannin powders, gravity instead of pumping and careful racking over heavy filtration. Disclosing the details of the process would enable consumers to make a more informed wine buying choice.

The issue is quality, not an esoteric debate about natural versus industrial wine-making. A trip to a natural wine fair showed me that naturalness is no substitute for clean cellars, temperature control and efforts to preserve acidity and prevent oxidation. A visit to a certified biodynamic winery in reminded me that certifications also have very little relationship to quality. Certification does not prevent irrigation, over-cropping or mechanical harvesting. Increased transparency in agriculture and wine specifically, will benefit truly sustainable wine producers, but the biggest winners will be consumers who appreciate fine wine. Disclosure of what happens to a wine before it is in your glass benefits both people who are concerned about sustainability and those primarily concerned with taste.

While government labeling law will likely take years to catch up to the level of transparency online, increased disclosure is inevitable. Just as people will want to know how and where their beef was raised before they pull their hybrid up to the drive-thru window, wine drinkers will want to know how and where the grapes were grown and what the process was in the cellar before they click the order button.

I’m a fan of drinking wine, especially around a table with food and friends. There are times when you might want to appreciate the subtlety and nuance of a special wine. At the 20sb Meetup in Chicago, I had a great time sharing some of our wines. Someone asked me how you “taste” wine and @doniree captured my answer on video. Other than remembering that what it tastes like to you is the most important part, here you go…

Peter Kim of The Express filmed a short segment. The lunch scenes are why you should be connecting with us on twitter.

I was fortunate to spend some time this morning chatting with one of Vancouver’s most tenured and well-respected fashion designers. This gentleman has been a fixture in Vancouver for decades, and his generosity with the industry radiates in his words. There was something in his presence that reminded me a great deal of Thomas Haas, the pride of Vancouver’s pastry scene, who is one of the most gracious teachers to be found in a kitchen. The potential parallels between food and fashion struck me immediately. Artfulness and respect for a particular aesthetic radiates from chefs and designers alike, and the truly great ones share their knowledge in a way that could not be further from secrecy.

The conversation quickly shifted to food, and we chatted about wine, and dining out. Our candid discussion on the essential nature of sufficient fat in ones diet was certainly a highlight. He gets it, and lives it well. With a diet that includes no processed food, soda or fructose, he is confident and well versed in what makes his body run like a well-oiled machine. But my astonishment came when we spoke about wine. He appreciates the diversity and nuances that can be found in international vineyards, and shops at reputable stores. But what it all comes down to in the end for him is the price.

This is a sentiment I’ve heard echoed loudly by the industry given the tiresome state of world economic affairs, but is it a fair one?

Do we question the price of great design in an industry that defines what is “seasonably chic” in the same way that we question the price of a bottle of wine? Wine is an agricultural product, but instead it is viewed as just a beverage. We immediately question the ability of farmers to make a fair living on the food and wine that nourishes us, but accept other high priced goods as though they are innately worth it. Is it possible to have the same appreciation of the provenance of wine, just as we have for a new outfit?

Wine and fashion both have strong ties to status and social perception. Neither is essential to life, but both invoke pleasure. One is consumed, becoming a part of oneself, while the other is worn, projecting an outward image of self. Society seems to accept paying high prices for garments, but struggles with paying a few dollars more for the assurance that their wine wasn’t made by a multinational that purchases grapes from across the border and synthetically adulterates the flavours.

The cultivation of all art is a sensory experience. Fashion is aligned with the senses of sight and touch, which continue to be regarded as more esteemed than the sense of taste. Agriculture is disconnected from the respect that fashion automatically garners. As a result, the consumer does not recognize the synthetic alteration, by way of additives that are routinely put in their wine. This synthetic product can no longer be considered wine, just as cheap knock-offs are not regarded as high fashion.

-Natalie