Elite Traveler Summer 2021

FAMILIA

TORRES The wine world’s most vocal evangelist for sustainability has long been Miguel Torres Sr, patriarch of this 150-year-old Spanish wine company with family outposts in Chile and California. Inspired by the 2007 climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth , Torres is passionate about reducing CO2 emissions that boost warming, tirelessly urges others to join him, and co-founded International Wineries for Climate Action to decarbonize the wine industry. He and his son Miguel Torres Maczassek, now the company’s general manager, pump 11% of the company’s annual profits into the environment and fighting climate change. Energy efficiency is their watchword. If you tour Bodegas Torres Wine Center in Pacs del Penedès, you’ll whiz around in a solar-powered sightseeing train. At Waltraud winery, the white sand covered roof reflects solar energy and reduces air-conditioning needs. A biomass boiler transforms pruned vine shoots into heat and electricity. My favorite of the the family’s current projects is their effort to bring back ancestral grape varieties that can adapt to the drought and warming brought about by climate change. The

top one, so far, is 2016 Torres Forcada. 2016 Torres Forcada $65, torres.es

Katie Jackson of Jackson Famlly Wines

JACKSON FAMILY WINES Founded in 1982, Sonoma-based Kendall-Jackson winery made its mark with popular Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay. Now this family-owned company encompasses more than 40 premium wineries on five continents. So it was a big deal when Jackson Family Wines launched a formal sustainability program in 2008 with environmental, social and community goals. Today, the in-house sustainability champion is second-generation Katie Jackson, 34, senior VP of corporate and social responsibility. Under her leadership, the company became the largest generator of on-site solar energy in the US wine industry, began issuing regular progress reports on their actions, and co-founded International Wineries for Climate Action. Helping future winemakers understand the latest innovations is one of their most important contributions. They funded the Jess S. Jackson Sustainable Winery Building at University of California at Davis, the first self-sustainable, zero-carbon teaching and research facility in the world. jacksonfamilywines.com