When we set out to build Graham Wine Co., our goal was to stock the best ethically-made wines and spirits available. This report is designed to hold us accountable to that goal, help us track our progress over time, and enable us to share that progress with our customers.
Wine
As of May 1st, 2024, when we pulled the data for this report, we stocked 433 different wines.
Environmental Criteria
Of our wine inventory, 424 or 98% met environmental criteria. That is, they were farmed sustainably, organically, biodynamically and/or regeneratively. Only nine wines did not meet any of these criteria. Most were a result of miscommunication with the distributor about actual farming practice. Of those nine, we are discontinuing five of them. The four remaining conventionally-farmed wines we have decided to continue to carry are all from a local New York State winery we want to support. Moving forward, 99% of our wines will be farmed at least sustainably.
Wines by Environmental Criteria (as of May 1, 2024)
|
Total Wines |
433 |
100% |
|
Sustainable |
424 |
98% |
|
Organic |
282 |
65% |
|
Biodynamic |
86 |
20% |
|
Regenerative |
13 |
3% |
Regenerative Organic Certification represents, in our opinion, the highest standard for accountability in environmental and labor practice in winemaking. While the total number of products may seem small, as a proportion of what is available globally, it is significant. As of mid-2023, there were seven certified winemakers globally whose products were available for distribution in New York. We have tasted and currently stock what we think are the best wines from all seven. Over the latter half of 2023, we are thrilled that the number of certified producers has more than doubled. We are currently in the process of tasting through the wines from all of these new Regenerative Organic certified producers, and are excited to bring the best of their offerings to our shelves in the coming months. We believe we have one of the largest selections of Regenerative Organic Certified wines in New York City, and look forward to that selection growing as more producers become certified.
Labor Criteria
In terms of labor, of the 433 wines currently stocked, we are comfortable labeling nineteen of them Fair Labor. The reality is that there is currently much greater transparency about environmental impact and farming practice than there is about labor. We remain steadfast in our commitment to working to improve that transparency. We have an internal process to vet the labor practices of all of the wines we contemplate carrying with the producer and/or distributor before we stock them. However, we only label products "Fair Labor" when the workforce is unionized or there is a 3rd party organization holding the producer accountable for their labor practices, i.e. B Corp, Regenerative Organic Certified. This is an area where we feel we and the rest of the wine industry can continue to do better, and it remains a core focus of our sourcing.
Local
While New York State produces less than half of a percent of wine globally, we currently showcase 10 wines (or ~2% of our selection) that we think best represent what our local region has to offer. As we enter year 3, expanding our local selection is a core focus for new products.
Representation
Overall, 17% of our wines are produced by people traditionally underrepresented in the wine industry. 16% of our wines are produced by women or queer people, and 3% are from Black or Indigenous producers.
Wines by Representation Criteria (as of May 1, 2024)
|
All Wines |
433 |
100% |
|
Woman |
64 |
15% |
|
Queer |
8 |
2% |
|
Black |
12 |
3% |
|
Indigenous |
2 |
0% |
It is difficult to find industry-wide statistics to put these numbers into context. One study from researchers at Santa Clara University based on a random sample of California vineyards, found in 2020 that 14% of vineyards had a woman as the lead winemaker. It is generally thought that women are overrepresented in California winemaking compared to all winemaking globally, but we have been unable to find hard data to back this up. Nonetheless, we see this percentage as a baseline, and we continue to be committed to increasing our selection of the best wines from women winemakers across the globe.
Similarly, rigorous data on Black and Indigenous winemakers is even harder to find. We have heard numbers from 1% to 0.1% thrown around, but again, no hard data. We are proud that our current selection of South African wine is made exclusively by Black women, and that our domestic selection contains a number of Black winemakers, but we see room for improvement. The project of this transparency report has led to another round of research into Black-made wines available in the New York market, and we are working to increase these numbers in the coming months. As for Indigenous winemakers, we believe we stock the only indigenous winemaker whose wines are currently available in the New York market, but we remain on the lookout for new indigenous producers.
Spirits
As of June 1st, 2024, when we pulled the data for the spirits part of this analysis, we stocked 328 different spirits. Overall, 65% are aligned with at least one of our environmental, labor or representational criteria: 28% percent meet one of the environmental criteria, 13% meet labor criteria, 20% are produced locally and 23% meet one of the representation criteria. However, as you can see from the table below, there are significant differences between spirits categories.
Spirits Categories by Ethical Criteria (as of June 1, 2024)
|
% Aligned |
Environment |
Labor |
Local |
Representation |
|
|
Agave (Tequila & Mezcal) |
92% |
39% |
8% |
0% |
71% |
|
Gin |
73% |
31% |
12% |
27% |
19% |
|
Rum |
78% |
28% |
22% |
22% |
56% |
|
Sake & Soju |
29% |
0% |
0% |
29% |
0% |
|
Vodka |
83% |
44% |
17% |
33% |
22% |
|
Whiskey, Domestic |
71% |
12% |
41% |
20% |
7% |
|
Whiskey, International |
14% |
14% |
5% |
0% |
14% |
|
Potions & Misc |
44% |
25% |
4% |
18% |
9% |
|
Ready-to-Drink |
100% |
58% |
0% |
42% |
42% |
|
TOTAL |
65% |
28% |
13% |
20% |
23% |
Agave
We believe for spirits connected to a history of colonization and economic extraction — e.g. agave spirits like tequila and other mezcal or rums — it is important to look at the ownership structure of the company producing the product to ensure that profits are being returned to communities historically harmed by colonization, and that the ownership structure does not reproduce patterns of economic extraction. Two-thirds of our agave products are Mexican or Latinx owned. The remaining third generally meet another criteria, i.e. the product is organic or union made. Overall 92% of our agave selection is aligned with at least one ethical criteria.
Gin
For gin, overall 73% of products are aligned with at least one criteria: 31% with environmental criteria, 12% with labor, 27% are made locally, and 19% meet representation criteria.
Rum
For rum, as with agave spirits, we believe ownership structure is a key criteria. Currently, half of our selection is BIPOC owned, and we are continuing to work to increase that number. Overall, 78% of our rums are aligned with at least one criteria. We have discontinued one fully unaligned product, and replaced it with an organically-made alternative. We also continue to be on the lookout for dark rums, in particular, that align with criteria.
Sake & Soju
Our Sake and Soju selection currently features two local products, but overall our selection needs work to be better aligned, which we are prioritizing in the coming months.
Vodka
Overall, 83% of our vodkas meet at least one criteria: 44% meet environmental criteria, 17% labor, a third are made locally, and 22% meet representation criteria.
Whiskey, Domestic
71% of our domestic whiskies, bourbons and ryes are aligned overall. This is due in large part to the strong unions powering whiskey production in the US. 39% of our whiskies are union made (an additional one is made by a B Corp). 20% are produced locally in New York State. However, only 12% align with environmental criteria, and only 7% are produced by people representing groups traditionally underrepresented in the spirits industry. We see those two as areas for improvement as we continue to refine our domestic whiskey selection.
Whiskey, International
Looking at our Scotch, Irish and Japanese Whiskies, we see a lot of room for improvement. Only 14% of products align. While the labor regimes of these countries differ significantly from the US — e.g. in the UK and Ireland there aren't closed union shops, but most distillery workers who want to join a union have that option — we have been reluctant to classify any national labor regimes outright as "fair." We see opportunity to diversify our selection with more Scots and Irish owned farm-to-bottle whiskies that are better aligned environmentally, and are tasting new products in the coming months.
Potions & Misc.
"Potions" is a tongue-in-cheek broad category that includes Amari, aperitifs, liqueurs, vermouths and more that don't fit neatly into the above categories. Overall, 44% of products are aligned. Some corners of this category are better aligned than others, e.g. Amari are 75% aligned. There are also a fair number of bar staples, many still made by small family companies, that are produced without a lot of transparency into their environmental impact or labor practices. We are looking to improve our selection in this category in a number of ways. First, where there may be a more aligned alternative for a bar staple, e.g. a local or sustainably produced liqueur, we are tasting those to ensure we can recommend them as a substitute of at least equal quality. Where products are singular, and there may not be a ready alternative, we are pushing producers and distributors to provide greater transparency.
Ready-to-Drink
We are very proud of our RTD selection. We think our selection is delicious and represents the best options out there. All of our RTD products are also aligned with at least one criteria: 58% with environmental criteria, 22% are made locally, and 22% meet representation criteria.
Summary
We think that we are off to a solid start. We are pleased that moving forward 99% of our wines will meet one of our environmental criteria. We are excited to taste through the latest slate of Regenerative Organic Certified wines, and add the best to our shelves. There continues to be work to be done throughout the industry in terms of transparency of labor practices, and we remain committed to moving that effort forward. We also want to continue to increase the number of products we stock from groups traditionally underrepresented in the wine industry.
In terms of spirits, we are proud of the breadth of our Mexican-owned agave spirits, our union made bourbon selection, and the alignment of our vodkas and ready-to-drink options. We plan to improve the alignment of our international whiskies with the addition of independently-owned, sustainably-produced, farm-to-bottle choices. Similarly, we plan to improve the alignment of our sake and soju selection, “potions,” BIPOC-owned and dark rums, and sustainably-produced domestic whiskies.
The project of offering the best ethically-made wines and spirits is a long-term one. We are proud of the work that we have done to date. We understand that there is much more to be done, and look forward to tackling those challenges. Lastly, we are especially grateful for our customers supporting us on this journey.