The Local Beet, one of my favorite buy local/foodie news site, has a new contributor.
Chicago lawyer Wendy Aechlimann, who splits her time between the Windy City and wine tasting through Michigan, will make The Case For Local Wine.
Out of the gate, Wendy starts making her case for supporting local winemakers.
These will sound familiar to those who have embraced “buy local” as a mantra in their grocery shopping and farmers marketing.
So why buy Midwest wine when it’s so easy to get favorites from Napa, Australia and just about anywhere else in the world?
Wendy counts out the reasons. I can get on board with all of these:
- Support your local winemaker. You experience the same sense of pride of place as when buying a local tomato or radish, knowing that it was grown by a nearby farmer.
- Environmental considerations. Less fossil fuels are consumed and carbon emitted in getting the wine to your door.
- Branching out. Because the Midwest generally plants cold-hardy grapes, you have the chance to try more unusual varieties, such as Norton, Traminette and Vidal. Just like at the farmer’s market, where your curiosity is roused by new varieties of peppers, so can it be with wine. [This is the first time I’ve thought of local wines this way. It’ll make me pay more attention to varieties unique to or especially suited for the Midwest.]
- Support your local economy. The Midwest, like many areas of the country, is an economy in transition. By supporting your local farmers, you may be supporting a growth sector of our local economy.
- Help influence the direction of local wine market. As with any business, wine-making is, at bottom, a money-making endeavor. As more wine-making consumers buy local wine, the money will be reinvested into the wineries, and they will only improve over time.
Virtual Farmgirl 