It’s not your grandmother’s wine box!

This 3-liter tube contains a premium, rich and structured California Cab – the first release by winemaker Barry Gnekow, who went looking for a way to drink outside the box and to entertain without the waste.

“My goal was to produce the equivalent of a $25 bottle of wine that could be delivered to the consumer at under $10 per bottle,” he says.

At $40 a tube, The FOUR Cabernet scores many eco points. It eliminates expensive traditional glass-and-cork packaging, cutting wine bottle landfill waste by 85%. The vino package is 100% recyclable and the label is produced by windpower. The cardboard tubes weigh 20% less than glass and can be transported using less gas.

And it’s not just the package that defies the throw-away mentality. The wine, itself, also endures until all 24 glasses are poured.

“The great thing is that it holds about four bottles worth and stays fresh up to 4 weeks after opening,” explains James Robinson of WineStyles, a retail wine store and tasting club in San Francisco. “Often with red wine, people toss out what they don’t drink after a day or two, because it goes bad.”

Robinson poured me a taste out of the spout, and I found it to be delicious, medium-bodied, plummy and lightly oaked, even on its last legs, about two weeks opened.

The wine maker also promises to deliver white wine in a tube, including Chardonnays, at some point this year.

Perhaps it’s the fact the yard is covered with green grass, which is a water no-no in my world, yet a feature imposed by our homeowner association regulations. How we’d love to replace it with artichokes and succulents.

Maybe it’s because my garage is in the back of the house and leads to the backdoor entrance. That sure makes it convenient for unloading backpacks and groceries.

I suppose both of these excuses keep me from perching on the brick steps out front, except once in a blue moon, like on the magical night of Halloween, when hundreds of candy-crazed strangers travel to our “safe” suburban neighborhood to trick-or-treat up and down the tree-lined streets.

Yes, my front yard has practically become a stranger to me, nearly a decade after the baby-rearing years when my girls ran wild with the Bernsteins, the Murphys and the Ritters, the sidewalks their playgrounds for colorful chalk graffiti and clunky, three-wheel vehicles.

It’s kind of eerie how people don’t venture out front anymore.

The children in those other families have gone off to college. They’re the same children that showed up at my front door when my first daughter was born, asking “Can we see the baby, Mrs. Bradley?” Before going away, they had graduated from a variety of private schools in the city. When I was growing up, every kid on my block went to the same public school.

Our pediatrician, who lives in the hood, came over when both daughters were born and delivered hand-knit sweaters she had made for them in her spare time. We no longer go to her house for annual neighborhood Christmas parties. We just see her face when the girls contract a bug, break an arm or crush a finger in a door.

Sure, once in a while, I park at the curb or a soccer mom picks the girls up out front, and I wave to Mrs. Bernstein across the street. But on most days, I shuttle them through the back.

Once inside the back door, my daughters quickly become shut-ins, burdened with hours of homework, entertained after with hours of FarmVille or shows like NCIS. When I was growing up, everyone ran out front after homework, playing ball in the street, climbing trees and doing cartwheels or just shooting the breeze on the curb.

What has changed for me and my family?

Is it having personal computers that lure us into a false sense of “community connection” that actually keeps us from having a real one in our very own neighborhoods? Is it the security issue which gives parents a false sense of panic over children being abducted on their lawns by a stranger? Calming that hysteria is the subject of the eye-opening book, Free Range Kids.

I know it’s not just a city thing because last Friday night, on our way to a friend’s home for dinner, we drove down a thoroughly urban street where parents with toddlers were hanging out on their stoop, the children playing and the dad pouring his wife a glass of red wine.

I felt envious. Here I live in one of the most coveted neighborhoods of San Francisco, and I’m lacking all that I truly desire on a Friday evening: the family outside taking in the sunset, sipping organic wine, moving to the rhythm of a glider, and waving hello to other families doing the same. I guess you could say I need to move to the country. But, then again, think of that couple on their stoop on Divisadero Street.

The concept of the country can and should always be in our minds. It is that concept that keeps neighbor connected with neighbor, every night, not just that one October night when we venture out to the stoop.

This is the latest entry in Luanne Bradley’s column, Life in the Green Lane.

Images: tomask, Luanne Bradley

Hot time, late summer in the city!

Except for those dreaded Friday nights when all that’s on your buff arm is your reusable canvas shopping bag.

Lumbering home from your hood’s green grocer, you pass that trendy Indian bistro and spy handsome couples in the window on double dates. They’re nursing ginormous chalices of red wine and laughing up a storm, eyes tearing from the tandoori and terribly clever banter. You feel resentful. You like red wine, too.

Take heart, neo nester. It’s commendable to eat in and save money. But hey, don’t do it alone, silly! Invite your cheap friends over Saturday night and play frugal gourmet as a unit.

For seven tips, I went to the source, Executive Chef Annie Somerville of the celebrated Greens Restaurant of San Francisco.

Greens is owned by the San Francisco Zen Center and Somerville teaches classes throughout the year at its Green Gulch organic farm. She has earned an international reputation for her imaginative approach to elegantly composed and simple vegetarian cooking, and is the author Everyday Greens (Simon & Schuster, 2003).

Here’s her greenprint for wearing your own chef’s hat and becoming the coolest home-buddy in town.

Annie’s Guide to Planning and Entertaining at Home in August:

1. Sustain your energy.

Don’t overextend yourself. You are having friends over so make sure it is fun for you, too.

2.The shopping is part of the deal.

It should begin at the farmers’ market and you should enjoy the entire experience as you plan your evening.

3. Shop at your local farmers’ market.

There is so much great seasonal produce right now at the farmers’ market, so cook up some great dishes using these fresh choices. I know it sounds cliche, but the most fun thing to do is grilling, which is great when you are running behind.

Appetizers: Stone fruit is good now, like peaches and nectarines. We are brushing a little olive oil on them and grilling them lightly, then drizzling lightly with local honey and serving on watercress, or any greens. Add a nice cheese like fromage blanc or a fresh white goat cheese. You can also shave cheese over the fruit. For figs, which are coming in now and will last quite late into the season, I use a big, aged balsamic or golden vinegar to create a reduction, and serve with goat cheese.

Entree: You could make a rustic, savory tartlet filled with eggplant, peppers and  grilled onions. You can grill those ingredients or roast them. You could also do corn which is so good now, making a tart filled with corn, chilies, onions, cheddar and cilantro. A simple dish is rounds of eggplants with big slices of peppers, onions and summer squash, all roasted separately. Make a gratin, layering in a baking dish with some cheese and big, torn up leaves of basil. Sprinkle Parmesan and crunchy delicious bread crumbs over the top. Put it in the oven, bake and serve. Delicious! The best of summer.

Side dish: Another thing we are doing as a side dish is using rosemary skewers, leaving a few sprigs on the tops, and grilling fingerling potatoes, wedges of squash and torpedo onions. You can put a big cherry tomato on them. The sprigs are fun and taste good.

Salad: Make a big green salad adding quinoa, parsley, tomatoes, olive oil and lemon. This is always a refreshing salad people dig into.

3. Invite your guests to help cook.

If things aren’t coming together as quickly as you like, ask friends to step in. They love to get involved and it actually puts them at ease, socially. Hand  someone a pair of tongs and say, “Hey, can you flip these onions?” I taught an outdoor cooking workshop at Tassajara and got everyone involved. It gets people engaged in a real way.

4. Make it informal and family style.

Anytime I can eat outdoors I do, and the more relaxed the better, and that is my rule for restaurants, too. I don’t feel like I’m a captive inside. I like the idea of everyone sitting down to a long, informal picnic table with big platters of food and good wine. Maybe you can set up a second table for a buffet if you need to. The more informality the better to make people feel at ease. These days everything is so structured and people need to relax and have a good time.

5. Opt for light, refreshing drinks.

A fresh iced mint tea is always good or  lemon verbena spritzer with lemonade and mineral water and sprigs of  verbena from the garden. On a warm night, a beautiful rose is ideal. I also like Spanish wines and Sauvignon Blancs on a warm summer night.

6. Use beeswax candles for ambiance.

Candles for sure, they are fun. Sometimes I resort to any ones I have. I have just been given beautiful beeswax candles from the farmers’ market people who produce honey for us, Snyder’s Farm. They are at the Tuesday farmers’ market at the SF Ferry Building.

7. Extend the simplicity to the dessert.

It’s always nice to offer coffee and tea and can be great to have a wonderful dessert wine, really simple. I love fruit crisps and cobblers. Short cakes also are easy to do. But if you can’t bake, just make a simple sundae with delicious vanilla ice cream and an assortment of berries. You can mash them and make a sauce. Or serve some good cookies and berries. A cluster of grapes is even good or melons and a cheese plate (light fresh goat, a cow’s milk cheese and  a sheep milk cheese, with toasted walnuts and almonds). Add a pretty platter with toasted bread.

* These days, Annie is “keeping her nose to the grindstone at Greens” but come the start of the year, you can visit her at the Chef’s Holiday Series at the Ahwanee Hotel in Yosemite.

Images: mccun934, Marilynn Taylor

Is it possible to make great California wine in an unfriendly environment? Not according to Hall St. Helena, the first winery in California to achieve Gold LEED Certification.

LEED is an internationally-recognized green rating system that measures how well a building or community does in its efforts to save energy and water, reduce CO2 emissions, improve environmental quality and show leadership in the stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

Hall won the prestigious award from the U.S. Green Building Council for its sustainable design and practices at its facility in Napa Valley. Among the features recognized:

• Radiant Floors Allowing for Precision Winemaking and Maximum Energy Efficiency:

Radiant flooring allows HALL to control the facility’s temperature while conserving energy. This technology, accomplished by running cold or warm water through the floor slab, provides a energy efficient and stable storage and production environment.

• Solar Energy:

The sun provides more than 35 percent of the energy needed to power HALL St. Helena. Solar photovoltaic cells (solar panels) on the roof tops of the barrel cellar and fermentation building convert sunlight directly into electricity. Approximately 42,000 square feet of solar panels span the St. Helena winery roofs.

• Local Building Materials:

More than 10 percent of materials used to build the facility were extracted, harvested or recovered, as well as manufactured, within 500 miles of the project site.

• Recycled Building Materials:

More than 10 percent of the materials used were made with recycled content.

• Water Conservation:

Drought-tolerant plant species were selected for the winery landscaping which will reduce the demand for irrigation by more than 50 percent. In conjunction with this, all of the landscaping and vineyards are irrigated with recycled water. A 40-percent reduction of building water has also been achieved through the use of low-flow water outlets without compromising performance.

Cheers to Hall and its owners, Craig and Kathryn Hall for achieving their vision.  To celebrate this accomplishment, HALL is offering complimentary LEED tours daily at 11am through the end of August. Call 707.967.2626 to reserve your spot.

Slow down and take time to smell the rosés.

That’s our highly recommended approach to the eco-sensual pairing of artisanal food and terroir-expressive wines at this Sunday’s Golden Glass Wine Event at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Pavilion.

It’s also the prevailing philosophy of sponsor Slow Food USA, an organization dedicated to advocating the importance of sustainable farming practices that respect traditional knowledge and taste.

Complementing more than 100 no-pesticide wines from around the globe will be exclusive sampling from some of the Bay Area’s top restaurants and artisanal producers, including: A16, Absinthe, Aquarelle, Heaven’s Dog, La Poggio Trattoria, SF Baking Institute, Slow Club, Stella Cadente and Trattoria Corso.

Whew! And you thought this coming Sunday was for popping the top off a Bud Light for dad as he basted ribs on the BBQ in celebration of Father’s Day. How “˜bout a radical departure? Treat him to a brave new world of pure, delicious food and fruity no-nonsense wines fast by the San Francisco Bay.

The best news about the Slow Food Movement – as on display in this event – is that it combines high-minded principles with unsurpassed gourmet pleasures.

A few bites and sips later, your dad just might be more than happy to trade in his brewski and back rib for a Bordeaux and brioche.

When: Sunday, June 21, 2009
General admission: 2:00 ““ 6:00 p.m.

Entrance fee: Advance purchase: $60 (Slow Food members: $55); at the door $70; Food only and under 21: $20 (all entry tickets include 5 food tasting tickets. Additional food tickets can be purchased in groups of 5 for $20).

Where: Fort Mason Center, San Francisco
The Festival Pavilion

Images: Joe Budd Photography

Not everyone has the space or budget for a large thermal wine cooler in their pad. Here’s a practical way to chill that organic vino and rescue the dying cork stopper industry at the same time.

The Cork Bark Wine Chiller from Bitters Co. is from and features unglazed terracotta wrapped with an outer layer of natural cork bark ($46). It cools your bottle by insulating it with these layers and lends some earthy style at the same time.

The way of life for Mediterranean cork harvesters has become threatened by the replacement of hand-harvested cork with cheaper, synthetic twist-off caps. So farmers in Portugal are brainstorming alternative uses for their product – like this wine cooler, as a way of salvaging cork production, which is organically farmed.

It’s one thing to go organic, but many California wineries are taking sustainability to another level. From ground to glass, the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA) is ensuring that Californian vintners are known not only for quality organic wines, but for being leaders in the movement towards sustainable agriculture.

Some of the recommendations put forth by the CSWA for Californian vintners are:

Embrace alternative energy sources, such as solar, wind and biodegradable fuels.

Be at the forefront in habitat restoration and preservation efforts.

Use green building materials ““ straw bale, rammed earth, recycled lumber ““ in winery construction.

Use cover crops and compost.

Adopt water conservation practices.

Have employee-run recycled and solid waste management programs.

Give back to the community by supporting non-profit and charitable organizations.

CSWA is setting the standard for real grassroots change in wineries, and we can support them by urging our favorite vineyards to adopt these ideas and become shining examples for wineries – and other businesses – around the world. Learn more about these wineries.

Image: zest-pk

‘Tis the season…to have cold hands.

I’m convinced mulled wine was invented as a handwarmer in the depths of winter. It first pops up in the history books around 400 CE, although its European medieval name of Hipocris harks back to Hippocrates, the Ancient Greek “father of medicine” – and it’s not hard to imagine Celtic Mead being dangled over the fire for an extra-warming kick. Nowadays, mulled wine is a popular winter drink across much of northern Europe. For example, in Sweden it goes by the splendid name of Glögg.

The second-best thing about mulled wine (after drinking it) is that it’s a cinch to make. All you need is a nice full red organic wine, a few spices, a liberal amount of sugar or raw honey, and some heat. It’s as imprecise as that because there is no right or wrong way to mull (spice) your wine. If you don’t have a sweet tooth, hold back on the sugar. If you think Aztec hot chocolate is nowhere near fiery enough, double up on the spices. It’s your special recipe.

A few ingredients to consider:

Cinnamon, Cloves and Ginger (be careful: used liberally, these make for a fierce drink).

Vanilla and Nutmeg.

Citrus peel (orange peel is a personal favourite, but for a sharper, fresher wine, try lemon – or even lime, if you’re very brave).

Sugar or honey.

A set ratio of wine to water – purely personal choice. (I measure 2 parts wine to 1 part water, but then, the British winter can be bitter).

Preparation:

It’s no good putting everything in a pan a few minutes before you serve up. Mulled wine needs to be simmered so the ingredients impart enough flavor to the mix. Give it at least 20 minutes on the brink of boiling (but no further – boiling will evaporate the alcohol, and nobody would want that). Strain the mix, and you’re ready to pour…

Serving:

Serve in wide glasses or mugs – and ideally use earthenware goblets. The reason for this is that drinkers should be standing outside in the cold, holding the drink in gloved hands, enjoying the delicious twin warmths of holding and sipping. You want a cup that can be cupped.

As a final bonus, all the sugar and spices work as natural preservatives – so leftover mulled wine will keep for a rainy day!

Image: *Noema*.

You know that the best wines are organic – but what about the greenest wines? Simran Sethi and Sarah Smarsh give their tips for tracking down vino verdi, over at the Huffington Post.

Bicycles have a healthy future. For proof of that, look no further than The Economist’s story on how obesity and high oil prices are sending Giant Manufacturing’s sales through the roof.

It makes uncomfortable reading – but it needs to be said. All parts of the world are interrelated, and that means in the grand scheme of things, we have a direct responsibility towards the Third World. Zen Habits outlines the problem – and what we can do to tackle it.

However much the greener side of electronics supports the use of rechargeable batteries, there’s still an awful amount of one-shot cells out there. Now a South Korean designer has come up with the bright idea of using up those last sizzles of electrical power in discarded batteries to light the streets. (Let’s hope people who use the new EVOLTA batteries take note).

There are over 10 million Americans meditating on a regular basis, according to Time magazine. All those people will know that meditation isn’t just a spiritual or psychological exercise as is commonly assumed – it has a direct impact on your health (because mind and body are the same thing). Read parts one and two of Seamus Anthony’s series on this very subject, over at Pick The Brain. And did you know you can meditate on the move?

We suit our clothes and jewelry to our hair – so why not carry it a little further? Simply Seleta has a comprehensive guide to brunette decor!

Now, I love the concept of making table legs out of magazines. But is there anything in life more slithery than a pile of magazines in motion? Problem. Maybe they could melt the middle of them together?

The latest urban eyesore to get a long-overdue design rethink is the strip mall. Via Laure at Dwell, we were intrigued to see the winning designs for Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art’s “Flip a Strip” competition. The winner? Urban Battery – “…a power station, vertical greenhouse, and a billboard, all rolled into one.”

If you want to eat sustainable sushi, the three upcoming guides from leading environmental groups will be a tasy prospect – but as Florence Fabricant reports for the New York Times, you still might have to do some homework to be able to ask your waiter the right questions.

Right now, America relies on oil – and in Washington there are advocates of a more aggressive oil-drilling policy both at home and abroad. We’re going to come out and say what we believe: they’re wrong. Here’s why. Sooner or later, the wells will all run dry. By then, we’d better have kicked our dangerous addiction to oil – and there’s no better time to start than the present. (Thanks to Red Green and Blue).  

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Image: rachelvoorhees

Let’s just say a friend of a friend, who happens to be an Eco Goddess, is throwing a party and you’re invited. You want to impress her with your eco smarts and the best first impression is the gift you bring to show your appreciation. Here are some truly green gift ideas to suit all budgets.

Bouquet of Organic Flowers. It’s an old standby, but you can mention that they were grown chemical free, so they’re safe to smell to your heart’s content.
Aloe Vera Plant. A gift that truly keeps giving. Beautiful, exotic and medicinal. Who wouldn’t appreciate one of these?
Bottle of Organic Wine. We’ve already compiled a list of our favorites.
Organic Olive Oil and Aged Balsamic Vinegar. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to taste them with fresh bread at the party.
Organic, Fair-Trade Artisan Chocolates. I love Theo Chocolate’s delectable confection boxes.
Palm Wax Candles. This set of chakra candles is very cool gift for the hip hostess.
Fair-Trade, Organic Tea Sampler. Arbor Teas and VivaTerra both have beautiful gift sets.
Fair trade, Organic Soaps. Try this set in a hand woven basket from the Zambian Soap Company and support African families, or support local artisans and pick up something at the farmer’s market.
Artisanal Sea Salt. Pinch, don’t pour.
Organic Peppermint Bark. Have you tried this stuff? It’s amazing. Dark chocolate and peppermint, married in delicious delight.
Organic Olive Lover’s Gift Set. Who doesn’t love olives?
Angel Face Botanicals Lavender Lover’s Eco-Spa Deluxe Gift Set. I can personally vouch that Angel Face products are divine.