Here at Hincapie, offseason is the time when the talk shifts from race and training schedules to a a decidedly more relaxed and favorite topic: wine. (You didn’t think that riding was all we talked about, did you?)
We’re really excited about a new wine company called Y+B Wines. They’re importing some great organic wines and building their company in on a sustainable model that feels good to support. (Yellow + Blue = Green, get it?)
George enjoying a glass of Y+B's 2009 Monastrell from Spain
Right now, Y+B is offering a Malbec and a Torrontes from Argentina, a Spanish Rosé and a Sauvignon Blanc from Chile. All are delicious, organic and sourced from vineyards that use only traditional, natural winemaking processes.
The first thing you notice about Y+B is the bottle, or lack of it. Y+B uses a package called a Tetra Pak, which you’ve probably seen them holding other products in organic grocery stores. The Tetra Pak saves considerable weight over a conventional glass bottle, as Y+B points out:
Consider: A case of wine in glass weighs 40 pounds and holds 9 liters of wine — close to 50% wine and 50% packaging. A case of Yellow+Blue weighs 26 pounds and holds 12 liters of certified organic wine. That’s 93% wine and 7% packaging.
The environmentally friendly Tetra Pak packaging
Y+B furthers this smart packaging model by transporting the wine from Spain and South America in insulated steel containers and doing the packaging here in the States.
All these good practices wouldn’t mean much if the wine wasn’t good. Here. Too, Y+B makes the grade. In fact, award-winning wine blogger Dr. Tyler Colman called their 2007 Malbec “a crazy-good value.”
Visit their site to find a dealer and learn more. In the meantime, here’s a video intro to the company.
Next year’s training schedule will be here before you know it. Now’s the time to relax and dream big about next year’s race schedule, with a glass of Y+B.