Mother Nature’s Wine: Sustainability and Winemaking
Editor’s Note: Gwendolyn Reed is a paid employee at Solaro Estate. However, this article is not a paid promotion and Drift Magazine did not receive any financial compensation for this piece.
Harvest season is in full swing at Solaro Estate Winery & Vineyards, located about 25 miles outside of Austin in Dripping Springs, Texas. Through sustainable farming and natural products, their investment in local agriculture serves both the land and community.
For any vineyard to be classified as an “estate,” they must make and grow their own wine. Because of the meticulous and hands-on work that grape-to-glass wine requires, estates are more rare to come by. For these wineries, harvest is a labor-intensive process.
Erika Fritz, vineyard manager and winemaker at Solaro, said harvest season is undoubtedly the most exciting time of year.
“It’s when everything happens,” Fritz said. “You're harvesting, crushing, fermenting, pressing– all back to back. It’s stressful, but in a good way, because the process dictates what your wine is going to be like for the next couple years.”
Fritz, who runs the winery alongside her parents Robert Fritz and Barbara Haderlein, began picking grapes this summer. However, these wines won’t be released until at least 2025. This is because Solaro specializes in dry reds, which are usually aged in barrels for one-to-two years.
Stakes are high, since harvest occurs only once per year. For the Hill Country, grape picking is usually around July.
This is a bit earlier than other regions because in Central Texas, it’s fairly hotter and spring arrives sooner. Warmer temperatures earlier in the year mean grapes ripen quicker.
Mia Szczesny, senior advertising student at the University of Texas at Austin, tried Solaro’s 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon and said she appreciated the sustainability initiatives behind the company.
“It’s cool that they do the work to keep it natural, because I know it's not the easiest or cheapest way,” Szczesny said. “It comes down to them caring for their product, the land and their customer in a different way.”
When practicing viticulture, the cultivation of grapevines, using natural products is essential to holistically caring for the land. Nearby farms will be impacted by pesticides used in a vineyard, so intention is important. Pesticides also contribute greatly to greenhouse gas emissions, while organic alternatives create less of a carbon footprint.
To prevent certain bugs and diseases from infecting their vines, Fritz said Solaro uses environmentally-friendly alternatives to pesticides.
“Instead of using chemicals and sprays, we graft our vines onto a native rootstock that is resistant to the disease that harmful bugs carry,” Fritz said. “This way, we don’t use products that will soak into the earth and the aquifers that are underneath our vineyard. It’s the most sustainable alternative.”
A myriad of variables contribute to the result of harvest at wineries each year, from precipitation, to heat levels, to the length of the ripening period. In an industry like wine, with more options available everyday, supporting local businesses is more important than ever. Solaro’s product proves to be award-winning at the New York International Wine Competition every year.
“Many wineries like to add lots of different things to their wine to massage it into what they think it should be, versus what mother nature gives you,” Fritz said. “We do our best to make our wine the best that it can be, based solely on what mother nature gives us each year.”
Photo Courtesy of Gwendolyn Reed and Erika Fritz