Factory Wineries!
What in the
world is a Factory Winery? With this Blog, we’ll tell you what they are and how
to avoid them!
Factory
wineries are popping up everywhere in America. Cities and towns that never had
a winery before are, overnight, the recipients of one or two or more. Many of
these new Factory wineries are getting fabulous subsidies from the local
taxpayers and governments. So, just what is the wine consumer getting for their
hard earned money? Answer…very little or nothing!
A Factory
winery has an Achilles Heel. There’s a
Federal Law on the books that requires every winery in America to tell us how
their wines are created. A Factory winery will usually print it in tiny script
on their back label. If you see the words…”Bottled, Produced &
Bottled or Vinted & Bottled” it’s a Factory winery. Just one or
two words is the trademark of a Factory winery. What’s missing is the word…”GROWN”!!
Factory
wineries “Source” most of their inventory in the form of juices and
concentrates from ‘off-site’ suppliers. Some of their inventory may come from
America, but much does not. They bring it into their Factory winery, mix &
blend it, match a color chart, filter it, add made up flavors of ‘hints &
notes’, bottle it and offer it to the wine consumer. Most will never tell us
from where they “Sourced” their inventory or that their wines are “Filtered”. Filtered
wines have a heritage of about 85 years and a shelf life of between 2 to 4
years (for comparison, see UNFILTERED , below).
Even though
our landfills are filling up with used and empty wine bottles (4 Billion a
Year), these Factory wineries refuse to recycle/repurpose their empty wine
bottles. Each time they bottle they are using brand new wine bottles from
China, Mexico, or Italy.
So, Green
Winer, what’s our alternative, we love wines!
Fortunately,
we do have an alternative. Look for wines and wineries that produce wines that
state the following on their labels:
1 1.) GROWN, PRODUCED, VINTED & BOTTLED (Produced, Vinted & Bottled can
be OK if they are using whole Fresh fruits & Vegetables from a local farm.
Ask questions.)
2.) UNFILTERED (these are the ONLY wines that continue to get better with
age. They have NO end-time! Their heritage extends back into time over 8,000
years!)
3.) The word ‘NATURAL’ on any fruit or vegetable wine (this tells us that
that winery is making their fruit wines from whole fresh fruits. Absent the
word Natural and the wines are made from juices & concentrates.
If you have
one of these wineries in your neighborhood that is producing their wine to
these highest standards, please buy their wines and tell them that the “Green Winer” says Thank you!!
So, until we
meet, again…..”Salute
& Happy Days”!
