Wines that Care
Sip wines that not only tantalize the palate, but do good for the planet.
Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants has introduced a new wine program, “Wines that Care,” at its nearly 50 hotels nationwide, including its San Francisco properties such as the Hotel Monaco, Hotel Palomar, and Hotel Triton.
At the hosted nightly wine hour at each of its properties, a featured winery of the month will be spotlighted for its dedication to the earth and local communities. All of the wines have been hand-picked by Kimpton’s wine director and master sommelier, Emily Wines (and yes, that is her real name).
Among the featured wineries are: Barefoot Wine (Modesto, Calif.), which works with the Surfrider Foundation each year to encourage locals to clean up beaches to make them “barefoot-friendly.” Banrock Station (Australia), which has contributed to the preservation of native ducks in New Zealand, flamingos in Kenya, and the re-introduction of otters in Holland. And Hayes Ranch by Wente Vineyards (Livermore, Calif.), which has worked hard to minimize water use, reduce non-organic wastes, and revitalize soils.
For a complete list of the selected wineries, click here.
Additionally, visitors are asked to bring their used natural corks throughout the year to any Kimpton restaurant for recycling. The recycling drive is in partnership with Wente Vineyards and ReCork America, which recycles wine corks for reuse in products such as sporting goods, flooring and gaskets.
Here in SF, wine corks are considered compostable and can be tossed in the green bins, if you don’t want to go to the effort to drag them to a cork-specific recycler.
Sal: Great info! San Francisco is always such a pioneering city.
You have to admire every industry’s attempt to look out for our planet. It’s a group effort!
I like this!
Nice one. A lot of head-scratching going on in the industry and the Valley right now as the big corps try to figure out what the “new normal” is–this is the new normal, guys. Our children have a shared future, and it’s up to us to make it happen on their behalves. If enough wine drinkers only support producers which give back, there could be some significant changes in the industry to the betterment of us all.
I have heard that cork is in short supply, so it makes sense that the corks would be recycled. I have a cork collection in a pretty glass cube from the Pottery Barn, so there’s no way I would part with them. But I do like the idea. Just not sure what a gasket is?! Is that part of a car?
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I always collect my cork for the cork recycling did not realize I could just toss it into the general recycling – very nice!
Great to know. I love wine, but it is great to know that by having a nice night, you can actually be something far better else where. I will take this into consideration the next time I am at the store. Thanks for the link!