Happy Thanksgiving
Book of the year at Centralas.
We want you to know how grateful we are for all of you who read our posts, buy our wine, listen to the Organic Wine Podcast, and generally support the Centralas mission. Creating something new or different – like an ecological winery – is exciting and inspiring. But it often means going against the flow without a map… which can make us feel discouraged and lost. We couldn’t do what we do without your support.
It has been so encouraging to see the way our prickly pear wines have been embraced this year. We will be sold out by December (so if you’ve been thinking of trying them… now is your last chance), meaning they have been our best sellers of 2022!
Wendy and I drove from LA to Sonoma County recently. If you’ve done that drive it’s easy to zone out in California’s central valley since you can drive for 4 hours and only see 4 crops – grapes, almonds, cotton, and citrus. Seriously… that’s it. That’s where our almond milk, margarita mix, and t-shirts come from, folks.
But in the midst of those millions of acres of monoculture, this time I noticed a small orchard of prickly pear cactus of maybe 1 or 2 acres.
I couldn’t help but think that in 25 years that patch of prickly pears may be the only plants still thriving out of all those millions of acres… and that’s because they are the only plants that are currently thriving without massive amounts of irrigation and pesticides.
Making these wines is like being an investigative journalist at times. We have to dig deep into culture, history, science, psychology, and politics to uncover suppressed stories about excluded ingredients, forgotten techniques, and marginalized ideas. It’s a thrill to reveal some of these stories through our wine, and we hope we’re opening some eyes and hearts to new possibilities.
So, Thank you as well for the work you do in your own lives to further ecological awareness and support regenerative, biodiverse agriculture of all kinds. Keep up the great work!
If you want to be inspired by someone who is practicing agriculture in a way that will revolutionize the way you think about agriculture, check out this week’s episode of the Organic Wine Podcast with Mark Shepard, author of the book Restoration Agriculture – which is a top 10 Amazon bestseller in at least 3 categories.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Adam & Wendy
PS: There are some folks who have been especially supportive of Centralas in many special ways, and if you don’t know them, they are definitely worthy of encouragement and support:
Vinocity Selections, James Endicott – our distributor & friend who shares the same ecological values. Check out his other wines…. You can’t go wrong!
Chiara Shannon, Mindful Wine – Chiara has interviewed Adam for the Organic Wine Podcast as well as introduced us to many wonderful folks for some incredible collaborations. Interested in taking an ecological wine trip in the Columbia Gorge? Yoga and wine retreat in Paso Robles? Chiara does that and much more.
Wines Of Impact – our wine networkers, who we love to work with, and who extend our reach.
Viola Gardens, Jessica Viola – Jessica has featured Centralas multiple times at her amazing Topanga Canyon permaculture gardens, and she does stunning ecological landscaping.
The Westside Winos, Offhand Wine Bar and The Friend – our neighbors and friends who support Centralas and many other local wineries with great values, are instrumental in the Natural Action wine club, and also know something about art.
The wine shops and restaurants that buy our wine are too numerous to mention all, but here are some who have carried our wines repeatedly, hosted Centralas tastings, and continue to support us:
Esters in Santa Monica, Good Clean Fun in DTLA, Open Market in Koreatown, Café Birdie in Highland Park, Vintage Wine & Eats on Ventura Blvd, and last but definitely not least… South LA Wine Club, Highly Likely, Post & Beam, and Adams Wine Shop right here in West Adams/South LA.
And finally, we want to thank those who are the true foundation of Centralas… those responsible for caring and tending for the grapes and fruit we use to make wine:
The Galleano Family, who are responsible for the historic Lopez Vineyard and several other legacy vineyards.
Bill Shinkle, Tranquil Heart Vineyard, who is responsible for a variety of interesting and ecologically chosen grapes that we sometimes blend with prickly pears.
Also, let's not forget Patrick Kelly of Cavaletti Vineyards who might be the nicest guy alive and who provides a home for Centralas to make wines.
And life itself, the improbable and magical combination of water & light with a dash of stardust that found a corner of the universe to grow and dance and sing.
Thank you!!