It’s easy to forget that every glass of wine you enjoy is a delicate balance of its climate and soil, mixed with generations of history and care from devoted vintners. With climate change, global warming, and other environmental threats looming, it’s more important than ever to invest in producers who believe in looking out for the environment. That’s why we as wine nerds are so into organic, biodynamic, sustainable, and natural wines – they’re better for you and better for the planet. 

Just in time for Earth Day, and in honor of our big blue marble, we’re highlighting some of our favorite eco-friendly producers who are doing their part in keeping the planet healthy and happy!

Biodynamic

Domaine des Florets

"On the front line in the face of climate change, our duty is to preserve the heritage that has been bequeathed to us. I defend a sustainable and benevolent model, and wish to help restore the right balance between man, nature and the energies that surround us." – Jérôme Rathle

In 2001, Jérôme Rathle, who has long experience in sustainable development and environmental protection, took over Domaine des Florets and shifted farming to biodynamic and organic practices. Alongside Oenologist Olivier Roustang, who works as a consultant winemaker, they produce stunning wines that are grown at the top of the Dentelles de Montmirail, where 4 hectares of old vines flourish at an altitude of 500 meters on steep terrain in a magnificent landscape protected by high limestone rocks artistically carved by erosion.

Synchronicite Gigondas 2020

Lunaria

Lunaria is a line of organic and biodynamic wines from the Cantina Orsogna farming cooperative. Founded in 1964 and located at the foot of Maiella National Park in Abruzzo, Cantina Orsogna united nearly 600 farmers with a passion for conservation and sustainable agriculture. These wines bring the authenticity of place and terroir with a strong and bold yet everyday personality. Being fully biodynamic, organic, and vegan they are made from varietals that are intrinsic to Italian culture, showcasing the very best Abruzzo has to offer. These wines are also known for their unmistakable signature and style, eschewing the typical foil in favor of a simple string, or rope binding — a callback to an ancient peasant practice — using an orange thread (the color of biodynamics) applied by hand, bottle by bottle.

Pettirosce Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo 2022

Punset

The winery was founded in 1964 by Renzo Marcarino, however it was his daughter, Marina, who made the choice to convert the entire vineyard to organic farming, eliminating all kinds of pesticides and all synthetic products. Over the years, Marina, who is now entirely responsible for running the estate, and is one of the only female winemakers in Piedmont, Italy, has perfected agronomic methods that tend to minimize the use of copper and sulfur-based treatments, preferring biodynamic preparations and sharing the agronomic philosophy of Manasobu Fukuoka, also known as "the agriculture of doing nothing". Much attention is paid to the respect of the environment, both through the limitation of mechanical work, and through the recovery of by-products of winemaking.

‘Campo Quadro’ Barbaresco Riserva 2014

Organic

Dorli Muhr

Winemaking is in Dorli Muhr’s blood. Dorli visited her grandmother’s vineyard in Spritzerberg often with family and soon fell in love with winemaking. She bought land in Maremma, off the coast of Tuscany, and soon married Dirk Niepoort, himself a scion of one of Portugal’s most renowned winemaking families. Eventually the duo returned to Spritzerberg in the early 2000s, where Dorli replanted vines on her family’s old fallow soils and worked with Dirk to craft new, thoughtful, and elegant wines that didn’t just capture the terroir, but cooperated with it. Some years later, Dorli split from her partner, Dirk, and is today carrying on the winery, which has since grown to nearly 12 hectares spread among 36 distinct parcels, and practices biodynamic and organic farming, in her name, with the aid of daughter Anna.

‘Carnuntum’ Red 2020

Land of Saints

Land of Saints is a collaboration between three friends ― Angela and Jason Osborne (A Tribute to Grace Wine Company), and Manuel Cuevas (C2 Cellars) ― who met in 2013 and found themselves united by a love of California and the vinous expressions of Santa Barbara County. Jason Osborne hails from Cornwall, in Southwest England, known affectionately as the “Land of Saints,” after the people who made holy pilgrimages throughout the area hundreds of years ago. The quote on the back of each label of Land of Saints wine refers to an old Cornish saying: “What’s said of old, is said in truth.” Applied to wine, this conveys this winemaking trio’s intentions of being true to themselves and their respective cultures, and crafting honest expressions of the ancient, expressive terroir of California’s Central Coast.

Central Coast Sauvignon Blanc 2023
Happy Canyon Merlot 2021

Pares Balta

Parés Baltà is a family winery with roots dating back to 1790, when the first vineyards were established on the family's estate in Penedès, situated just 30 km from the Mediterranean coast and Barcelona. Helmed by the third generation of the Cusiné family, brothers Joan and Josep, alongside their wives, Maria Elena and Marta who supervise winemaking, Parés Baltà aims to create wines and Cavas full of expression using exclusively organic and biodynamic farming practices. 

Cava Pink NV
‘Grosella’ Sumoll 2021
Materia Prima Orange 2022

Natural

Chateau Penin

Founded in the 19th century by the Carteyron family, Chateau Penin is a certified High Environmental Value (HVE) estate headed by fifth generation vigneron Patrick Carteyron. The 50-hectare estate enjoys exceptional terroir, facing the hill of storied Saint Emilion, stretching from the high plateau of Entre Deux Mers to the gravelly terraces near the Dordogne River. The area is perfect for grape-growing, and protected by Patrick’s dedication to agroecology. He maintains hedges and groves to reduce greenhouse emissions, allows the land to rest between plantings, and utilizes bats, birds and plants to control pests in the vineyards.

‘Natur’ Bordeaux 2019

Eno-Trio

Eno-Trio is located in Randazzo, on the northern side of Mt Etna, the active volcano on the island of Sicily. It’s here that the volcanic soils and high elevations offer the opportunity to make remarkable and distinct wines. The winery is run by Nunzio Puglisi with the help of his two daughters Stefany and Désirée, who in 2012, encouraged Nunzio to start making wine under his own label. Nunzio’s lifelong experience of nurturing his family’s vines convinced him to work naturally at Eno-Trio. All the wines are fully organic, and planting, pruning, and harvesting are all linked to the phases of the moon. Eno-Trio wines are not stabilized, filtered or clarified. Nunzio believes that the wines of Eno-Trio are true representations of Etna which reflect the vine, the soil, the climate and the terroir and are therefore different from year to year.

Macerato Traminer Aromatico 2022

Johannes Zillinger

Johannes Zillinger learned early on from his father about the craft of organic winemaking, about viewing the vineyard as a habitat and protecting the environment instead of poisoning it. His father Hans turned to organic viticulture in 1983, two years before the Anti-freeze Scandal, and was one of its pioneers in Austria. When Johannes took over the winery and made it his own in 2013, he took it even further and became biodynamic, starting a new chapter for the 350-year-old winery. He even grows his own herbs for tea tinctures to use as treatments in his vineyards!

‘Numen’ Rose 2020
‘Parcellaire Rouge #1’ 2020
Velue 2.0 Gruner Veltliner 2022
Velue 2.0 Riesling 2021

Sustainable

Cora

Cora is an exciting proprietary label made for Bowler Wine. The wines are fresh, fun, uncomplicated, yet they overdeliver and satisfy the most exacting standards. Unlike many private labels in the market, which often come from 'tank farms' in the North, blending fruit from a myriad of sources, Cora comes from a single winery partner in Abruzzo. They use 100% estate-grown fruit, including some older vines planted in pergola abruzzese. Cora uses certified sustainable farming: No herbicides, pesticides, or irrigation, all while limiting copper use and avoiding soil compaction. They're certified carbon neutral, as well—all electricity used at the winery comes from 100% solar and wind power.

Pinot Grigio 2023

Hobo Wine Company

Hobo Wine Company, run by winemaking couple Kenny Likitprakong and Lynn Wheeler, believes in "unforced winemaking," as they put it. Committed to a value system that extends beyond financial progress, Kenny and Lynn are focused on creating outstanding organic and biodynamic wines with style, verve, and accessible prices. The “Hobo” name refers to Kenny’s winemaking experiences traveling and working from place to place. It applies now to the fact that Kenny does not own his own vineyards, but sources fruit from vineyard owners who he has long standing relationships with around California, some of which he worked with before starting Hobo.

Folk Machine Chenin Blanc 2022
Jeanne d’Arc 2023
Parts & Labor Red 2022

Macari Vineyards

The Macari Family’s waterfront farm, with sweeping views of the Long Island Sound, was established over 50 years ago. Since the first vines were planted in 1995, Macari Vineyards has been recognized as an industry leader in regenerative agriculture. The vineyard is home to a herd of cattle, used for composting, and grows grapes without the use of herbicides.

Macari Rose 2022

Vineyard Photo Courtesy Of Dorli Muhr