Out of Control

We know that a glass of wine in the evening can be good for your health, and even good for your pocketbook. Now Reuters is reminding us that drinking wine is good for the environment, too. That cheap stuff with the plastic stoppers won't do, though. Last year WWF, "the global conservation organization," published a report, catchingly titled Cork Screwed?, on the environmental benefits of the cork industry--which supports some of the "highest levels of biodiversity among forest habitats, including globally endangered species such as the Iberian Lynx, the Iberian Imperial Eagle and the Barbary Deer."

This week brings news of the first attempt within the cork industry to quantify some of their sustainable laurels. At the top of their list is carbon dioxide sequestration. To get the full picture, however, you'd have to compare the greenhouse gas savings to the quantity of greenhouse gases released in the wine fermentation process, among other sources. (So, for the time being, we can stick with the Iberian lynx as our reason to buy quality wine.)