Blogger Interview: Farmstead Wines

In Mutineer Magazine Issue 3 we highlight twelve blogs that were represented at the Wine Bloggers Conference. Here is the fourth of twelve full interviews from the conference.

Site: www.farmsteadwines.com
Blogger: Anthony Nicolo
Location: Vancouver, Canada & Washington DC
Launched: November 2007

What inspired the Farmstead Wine Blog?
We started blogging as a lead up to the initial wine importing we started to do and we continue to blog about sustainably farmed wines, food policy, sustainability, video interviews of the farmers.

Talk more about the farmer’s markets angle.
Well I used to be a chef, and the idea is that people go to farmer’s markets and think about the provenance of what they’re eating, but they stop thinking that way and don’t think of wine as an agricultural product when in reality it is. Grapes are not just a commodity; they are very much a food stuff, and we should think about them very much the same way that we think of the provenance of other ingredients.

What is the vision behind the blog?
The blog is just a way to hopefully share the connection to the land that our farmers have. Because of globalization, a lot of small farmers get left out. They don’t make enough wine for a brand, and the idea is that we can utilize the positive side of globalization to connect people to those farmers by using technology such as video interviews. So while you can’t necessarily meet a farmer in the same way that you would at a farmer’s market, you can still connect with them on some level.

Why should people check out the blog?
People that already shop at farmer’s markets should definitely check it out. In general it is a great place to start thinking about sustainability and wine and all of the issues around organic and biodynamic. At the end of the day there is a connection to the land that farmers have that we are losing. It is no longer being passed down from generation to generation. In the long run, if we are ever going to be sustainable we need to be able to appreciate that connection to the land and understand the process of feeding ourselves.

What qualifies you to write this blog?
I have a background as a chef. I founded Farmstead Wines and set up a certification program that is based on USDA organic standards and incorporates some best-practices from naturally grown and takes some best-practices from the biodynamic movement, farmers, and traditional agriculture. That experience of actually doing the certification and establishing the relationships with the farmers means that I know a lot about it.

Edited for clarity.

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