...in the very recent past, Sustainable, Organic, and Biodynamic produce was only found in the aisles of coöperative grocers.  How the world has changed and continues toward a more deliberate, reflective and promising future.  Consumers have found the strength of their dollar and no longer settle for products we cannot stand behind.
 
All of the wines you find on Artisan Vineyards come from artisan vineyards.  All work immensely hard to make individual wines with talented craftsmanship from the gifted places on earth.  In their indefatigable effort to ensure the health of our planet, many of these dedicated vintners grow according to sustainable, organic, and/or biodynamic methods.
 
Some do so quietly and others go the extra mile and are certified by the bodies governing such farming practices; but this begs the question: would anyone really argue that certifying a vineyard "Salmon Safe" or a winery "Organic" would thereby improve the contents of the bottle?  At first blush?  No.  It sounds like a lot of needless paperwork and perhaps (more cynically) it just reflects a trend of our day in age when green-washing is all the vogue.  Then you imagine the plight of vintners struggling to try all they can to improve their vines.  At the very least, sympathetic agriculture reveals a heightened commitment and care; when walking their vine rows, tending to their plants, handling tormenting pests, bringing in the harvest. 
 

-Josh Bergstrom, lauded winemaker at Bergstrom Winery  

Much to the surprise (and the initial chagrin) of the hardened skeptics, more and more growers are espousing alternative agriculture among their vines.  Despite the deafening drum of reductive science, vintners the world over recognize there is no harm in trying new practices first hand.  Giving this or that patch of vines over to their own in-house trials to see results for themselves; results that have convinced a growing number of vintners -not because they necessarily grasp their ways but because they appreciate their results.  Bethel Heights' Mimi Casteel for example.

  

Just ask Denis Mery at Drouhin Domaine Vaudon, the largest biodynamically tended vineyard in all of Chablis.  What began as a 10 acre trial in Biodynamic cultivation is now the modus operandi over the whole Domaine because "The Drouhin family is constantly searching for new ways to limit the imprint of man on nature, while maintaining a delicate balance between the two."  Domaine Joseph Drouhin has long pioneered low impact viticulture. Robert Drouhin was among the first in all of Burgundy to eliminate pesticides and beginning in the 1980s Phillipe Drouhin took their vines further toward organics and biodynamics -so far, in fact, that since 1995 all estates under Maison Joseph Drouhin now embrace biodynamics. Hear Laurent Drouhin himself tell us how that change has affected the wines.  Once again, results won the day.
  
Why?  Because healthier soils and stronger vines foster the ability to defend themselves without the "aid" of chemical treatments that otherwise wind up all over the farms: their families, their soils, the air and the aquifer.  Because the resulting wines speak more of their place -rising into a song of terroir.  Because the vintners recognize a systemic health among their vines they've never before seen and the winemakers and oenophiles alike are astonished by the additional verve and character in the glass.  New shifts are afoot and though these methods no doubt embody an ethos, the results are so much greater than that alone -the wines are making strides and in terms of quality the finest are growing even finer.   
 
Please shop from the lists below.  Each name links to heartfelt descriptions on Artisan Vineyards.  Read about each grower, their singular wines, and put your purchasing power to support the principles that respect the planet and its people.
 

See who's who among the Sustainable, Organic, & Biodynamic growers >>