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GOURMET NEWS MARCH 2014 www.gourmetnews.com GENERAL NEWS 7 Sonoma County to Become Nation's First 100 Percent Sustainable Wine Region Sonoma County wines are renowned throughout the world for their award-win- ning quality and superb taste. And in the near future, consumers will be able to pur- chase any Sonoma County wine with con- fidence, knowing that all of the region's wines are grown and made in the nation's first 100 percent sustain- able county. The Sonoma County Wine- grape Commission, also known as Sonoma County Winegrow- ers, recently announced that Sonoma County is committed to becoming the nation's first 100 percent sustainable wine region through a three-phased program to be completed within the next five years. Although many of the region's multigen- erational winegrowers and winemakers have been practic- ing sustainable farming tech- niques and winemaking practices for decades, this ini- tiative demonstrates their seriousness and commitment to ensuring all vineyards and wineries across Sonoma County will soon be sustainable. "Our county's grape growers and wine- makers have long been at the forefront of creating and utilizing sustainable practices in the vineyard, in the winery and in run- ning their businesses, so this is the next natural step in their continued evolution," said Karissa Kruse, President of the Sonoma County Winegrowers. "Sonoma County has great leaders who have cham- pioned the wine industry's sustainable ef- forts, and I'm proud of the unparalleled partnership between Sonoma County Winegrowers and Sonoma County Vintners that enables us to put this stake in the ground for sustainability as a wine region." The first phase of this effort will focus on helping winegrowers assess their sustain- able vineyard practices through trainings and educational sessions focused on over 200 best management practices such as land use, canopy management, energy effi- ciency, water quality assessments, carbon emissions, healthcare, employee training and community citizenship. In addition, the first phase will also involve assessing and collecting data on 15,000 vineyard acres per year for the next four years. The goal is that every acre of planted vines will be under assessment for sustainability. As vineyard acres are assessed, phase two will involve the Sonoma County Wine- growers working with vineyard owners to achieve certification. Once the winegrower program has kicked off, focus will be ex- panded to work with wineries and wine- makers to roll out sustainability assessments and certification all with a goal of 100 percent sustainability for the wine industry in Sonoma County by 2019. To ensure against "greenwashing," third-party verification and certification programs will be used such as the Califor- nia Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance's Code of Sustainability that involves 15 chapters and over 200 best practice assess- ments for growers and wineries focused on environmental, social and economic vi- ability and continuous improvement with verification by a third-party certifier. An- other critically-important factor to this initiative is transparency, which will be ac- complished through regular progress up- dates, an annual Sonoma County Wine Region Sustainability Report Card and a vineyard and winery real-time tracker on the SCW website. "I commend the growers and wineries of Sonoma County for pursuing this bold initiative. It speaks volumes about their love of the land and their commitment to environmental stewardship, their commu- nity and their consumers," said Karen Ross, Secretary of the California Depart- ment of Food and Agriculture. "It is a unique branding proposition and I wish them great success." Sonoma County has some of the world's most prized grape growing areas in the world with the first vineyards dating back to the 1820s. The re- gion's unique combina- tion of rich geological history, fog patterns generated by its 70- mile Pacific Ocean coastline, and topogra- phy has given rise to 16 unique American Viticultural Areas. Each AVA offers distinct climate, soils and temperature areas perfect for growing world-class pinot noir, chardonnay, caber- net sauvignon, zinfandel and more. Sonoma County is also home to around 450 wineries whose wines are renowned throughout the world. GN Firmenich Names Blackberry its Flavor of the Year for 2014 Global flavor and fragrance company Fir- menich recently announced that black- berry has been named its flavor of the year for 2014. Blackberry has been gain- ing popularity in recent years as health and nutrition have become top priorities for consumers. Extolled as a "super food," the blackberry is rich in antioxi- dants and other powerful nutrients. Its flavor profile is just as powerful and its complexity is what drives its appeal. Berry flavors have always been pop- ular. However, consumers have re- cently become more attracted to the singular flavor profile of the black- berry in particular. Firmenich says this reflects a larger consumer desire to ex- plore and to push the boundaries within the safety of familiar concepts. Similar to last year's flavor of the year, lime, this year's chosen flavor stands out within its fruity family with an in- triguing, unique profile. "Consumers are becoming highly discerning in their preferences, opting for more and more complexity in fla- vor profiles. This has caused a natural evolution towards profiles such as blackberry," said Hidemi Tashiro, a Master Flavorist at Firmenich. David Lyon, Director of Firmenich's Global Sensory team, a group respon- sible for analyzing the profiles of thou- sands of flavors each year, further explains blackberry's appeal. "Accord- ing to AromaSphere®, our proprietary tool to categorize the consumer lan- guage of flavor, the words that de- scribe the profile of blackberry indicate the complexity of the flavor profile: ripe, sweet, acidic, juicy, seedy, jammy, spicy and even floral at low levels," he said. "These are the elements that interact with and complement each other, cre- ating a complex profile with wide- reaching appeal," added Tashiro. Firmenich believes that millennials in particular are helping to drive the blackberry trend. This is a group of consumers that is attracted to adven- ture, and blackberry, with its delicate nuances, has the ability to surprise the palate with every bite. Firmenich is seeing blackberry trending in a number of food and bev- erage categories. The company noted several places where blackberry has ap- peared recently, including in Kashi's Blackberry Graham cereal bars, in IZZE's Sparkling Blackberry drink and even at McDonald's in the chain's new Blackberry Raspberry Fruit Tea Fusion. A particularly versatile fruit, the fla- vor of blackberry can be easily married with other fruits, herbs and spices. "Blackberry is such a fun flavor to work with," said master flavorist Robin Trumm. "It pairs well with many other flavors, including black pepper, apri- cot, champagne, citrus, plums, port and ginger, just to a name a few." GN

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