The ethical drinker: Insights from new book ‘Rooted in Change’

‘Anyone who is passionate about wine or enjoys drinking wine should be aware that climate change is having a big impact on wine regions and the style of wines produced,’ says Masters, a buyer at UK wine retailer Majestic with a background in winemaking and biochemistry.

‘It is not a given that Bordeaux will be able to make wine that is recognisable as Bordeaux even in 20 years, certainly not 50 years – and that’s shocking,’ says Neather, a former political speechwriter and the London Evening Standard’s wine critic for 11 years. This seems to me to be as good a reason as any to start thinking about how we can all drink wine more sustainably.

Neather had been thinking about writing a book about wine and climate change due to the increasing frequency of extreme weather events affecting vineyards worldwide. For Masters, a self-proclaimed nerd, ‘the idea started from a desire to understand all of the different aspects of sustainability and how they interact with one another, and to simplify some of the language and the science behind it’.

Together, the pair have set out to paint a holistic and comprehensive picture of the environmental, social and economic challenges faced by the wine industry, the effectiveness of the solutions and good practices being trialled – and the role we wine drinkers can play.

Pros, cons and trade-offs

Their book isn’t a manifesto. It doesn’t declare that there’s a single solution to the myriad challenges, and it’s not sensationalist. Rather, it’s informative, factual and realistic.

‘Anyone can pick it up,’ says Masters. ‘If you’re interested in wine, if you work in the wine trade, even if you’re not a wine drinker, the lessons that you can learn around how grapes are grown, around packaging and distribution, are all relevant to food and other products.’

Masters and Neather looked at case studies of wine businesses making sustainability-led decisions in their operations – be that around carbon emissions, packaging, circularity or social responsibility – weighing up the pros and cons, and acknowledging the trade-offs.

‘It’s quite easy to come up with examples of good practice – on renewable energy, biodiversity, alternative packaging – but the majority of the industry isn’t actually doing those things,’ says Neather. ‘Because sustainability decisions do have a financial impact.’

That’s where Masters’ expertise comes in: with her buying and retail background, she understands the challenges of running a business, so the book hones in on economic sustainability, too.

Writing about climate change comes with its own challenges. ‘Honestly, I feel quite depressed every morning,’ says Masters, ‘when I hear about the latest things that are going on. On the other hand, you have a choice. Am I going to try to affect something in my own area of influence, where I work and what I do, and what is that going to be?’

‘It’s pretty terrifying really,’ says Neather, ‘but we do what we can where we are.’

This book encourages us to be challenging, to ask questions, to not make assumptions and to be curious – and above all, to keep enjoying wine.

Rooted in Change: The Stories Behind Sustainable Wine By Jane Masters MW and Andrew Neather Published by Académie du Vin Library, £20 

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