Hedges Family Estate
About the vineyard & winemaker
Co-founder Martin visited the Hedges Family Estate in September 2022. Here's his write-up:
Arriving at Red Mountain, in the southeast corner of Washington State along the Yakima river, I immediately fell in love with the near-desert terraIn. I could also see why it would make for a great place to grow organic grapes: the area has an average yearly rainfall of just 10cm, helping growers avoid the issues caused by too much moisture; growing season daytime temperatures average 32°C, with nighttime dropping below 10°C, helping to preserve acid levels in the grapes; and southerly facing gentle slopes make for ideal growing conditions.
I spent the best part of day with Christophe Hedges and his wife Maggie. I immediately felt at home, amongst friends. We enjoyed some outstanding wines while connecting over shared cultural and political references. We spent a lot of time talking about how to adapt to a changing climate. And I heard the story of how Hedges Family Estate came into being.
In 1976 Washington State-born Tom Hedges married Annie-Marie Liégeois in her hometown of Ossey-les-Trois-Maisons, in Champagne, France. They subsequently moved to the USA and established Hedges Cellars in 1987 and then purchased 50 acres of land on Red Mountain, where they planted 40 acres of Bordeaux grape varieties.
Their vision was to make high quality new world wines in the old world style (there is a strong French influence here thanks to Annie-Marie), while preserving the flavour of the local terroir. An exemplar of this is that they age their wines in "neutral" barrels, using aged European oak and not new American oak (as is often preferred by Californian wineries). We laughed together as I joked "you don't want your wine to taste like a Bourbon, do you?". In 1990 they won the first of what was to become a series of gold medals for their excellently crafted wines.
In 1995 they began building a French-style chateau - which I had the pleasure to visit. Meantime, Christophe and Sarah, children of Tom and Anne-Marie, came of age and joined the family business, (literally) rolling up their sleeves within the Estate - Christophe on both sales and stone masonry to enlarge the Estate, and Sarah in winemaking. The business has continued to expand, adding further vineyards along the way, with Domaine Magdalena, set up by Maggie and Christophe Hedges, just across the road. There is a genuine family legacy in the making here.
With 70 hectares, Christophe says “we're just about large enough to have our own ecosystem like a French Chateau business” with all wines estate-grown, aged and bottled on site. These guys know what they're doing, and they're shaking things up in the industry. For example, Hedges was one of the first US estates (together with Ridge Estate in California) to fight the “stuffy and rigged” public reviews and wine point scoring systems. They care about doing things the right way.
“So how do you market yourselves?” I asked. The response: “by making great wine”. In my own view this is an understatement. The wines are both exceptional and ethical, in equal measure. Think of Hedges as "The Ridge Estate (California) of the North West”.
In summary, this is an authentic family business, run by some seriously good people, making some seriously good wine.
In their own words:
"Led by a passion for authenticity and a deep connection to the land we call home, the Hedges Family Estate blends rich cultural upbringings and a shared love for creating beautiful wine, fostering a true homegrown approach to farming and viticulture. The unique geography of Red Mountain speaks volumes… The language of this distinct land translates to viticulture with the same character and complexity of the grapes themselves. We consider our collection of wines a collaboration between people and place; a true expression of origin and the unified culture of farm and family, for generations to come."
Collectivino is proud and honoured to be able to work with the Hedges family to import these wonderful sustainable fine wines to the U.K. We are confident you’ll fall in love with them, as we have.
Sustainability Rating: 3* (Pioneer)
These guys are serious about farming their land with consideration and respect for the planet. They don’t believe that being merely "organic" is a high enough bar in the USA due to the local rules which allow the use of more interventions than they think are necessary. So they have set the bar higher, and farm using biodynamic methods, with Demeter certification. Rather than resorting to chemical solutions, Hedges uses nature. For example, roaming chickens are deployed to control the predatory cutworm population. Planting, pruning and harvesting is done by hand, cultivating a connection to the crop. No commercial yeast is added to the wine during fermentation, resulting in a wine that expresses the terroir it came from.
A strong focus for the family is climate change, which was referenced many times during our visit. They are actively engaged in mitigation and on adaptation, and are experimenting with planting grapes which are native to hotter, more southerly environments (Portugal), to future proof the business. Although it has a similar latitude to the Loire, Red Mountain has very low precipitation – this is mountain desert land. Some modest irrigation is thus essential for vine health, which is carried out within strict water allocations from the local Columbia river. This also has the advantage of allowing them to optimise the growth of their grapevines.
A proudly Certified B Corporation.
We are one of the only B Corp certified wine merchants in the UK. We specialise in finding and curating high quality ethical wines which won't leave a hangover for the planet.
B Corp certification recognises companies committed to meeting the highest standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Being a committed member of the B Corp movement means that we prioritise more than just making a profit; we are committed to making a positive difference in the world. This certification reinforces our mission to provide high-quality, sustainable wines made by producers who are responsible stewards of the environment and active contributors to social good. Learn more at www.bcorp.com
All the vineyards in our collective use sustainable farming practices, many of our featured wines are organic and naturally low in sulphites, and we ensure that our bottles are delivered to you with net zero carbon impact through the entire supply chain. Better for you, better for the planet.
Our Icons
Learn what's behind the labelMost of our producers avoid the use of chemicals. This symbol is reserved for those who have been independently certified organic by the recognised accreditation body in their jurisdiction. E.g. the Soil
Association in the UK.
Certified Biodynamic Wines (e.g. Demeter Certification) adhere to rigorous biodynamic farming principles, encompassing holistic, organic and lunar practices, and focussing on sustainable, eco-conscious agriculture.
Vegan FriendlyMany of the wines in our portfolio are vegan-friendly. You can find out more about this in "the full low-down" listed on each product page. Vineyards are increasingly seeking independent certification, for example by Vegan.org
Sustainability RatingWe assess producers and rate them "One to watch" or 1, 2, or 3 stars based on where they are on their sustainability journey. Find out more below, and read the full assessment for each wine on its product page.
Michelin ListedWe are proud that many wines in our portfolio are selected by the world's top sommeliers. This symbol indicates that this is a wine that's on the wine list of restaurants listed in the Michelin Guide.
RecognitionThis icon signifies that this is a wine that has
been recognised within the wine industry as of outstanding quality, earning the top ratings and/or winning awards, for example from Decanter Magazine.
A guide to Wine&Earth's sustainability ratings
We aim to visit all of the vineyards and wineries featured in our portfolio so that we can really get to know the producers and understand their ethos, while seeing first-hand how this is put into action on their estate. As well as a deep qualitiative discussion, all of our vineyards are assessed based on a quantitative survey. We take a tailored approach to each vineyard (as a good practice in one area may not be the right thing to do in another). We then rate the producers based on three tiers:
Tier 1: Up and Coming (1*)
Becoming sustainable is a journey which can take many years; so this tier is for our vineyards who have great ethos and have started their commitment towards becoming a more sustainable. Many in this tier will be practicing organic or regenerative viticulture in many respects, but aren't yet certified, or occasionally choose to use some interventions when they feel they need to in order to protect their crop that mean they'll not be able to get certified. This tier is all about accountability and intent, and rewarding those who are doing more than the majority to drive positive change. These vineyards are a mix of those with good practices and those who are well on the path from industrial viticulture to low-intervention wine.
Tier 2: Moving on Up (2*)
Tier two vineyards have gone a step further and have a more structured approach towards improving the sustainability of their estate and business. For example, many of these vineyards will be practising organic, though they may not yet have a certification. They will likely be thinking about how to improve biodversity, and using some of their land for woodland. Tier 2 vineyards will be focused on soil health. They may be seeking to minimise the use of sulphur and the addition of sulphites to their wines. They will be able to clearly articulate their approach to sustainability, and may have some specific measurements and targets in place.
Tier 3: Pioneer (3*)
To get into our top tier, producers need to be pioneering. The will have thought holistically about their vineyard within its wider landscape, about biodiversity, about the soils, ground cover and nature-based solutions across their entire vineyard and beyond. These vineyards will also be working to become nature positive and regenerative. They will also likely be leading the way in community engagement and they will have good employee and seasonal worker policies in place as well. They will likely be taking steps to quantify and reduce their carbon footprint. They will be seeking to minimise or eradicate the use of animal products. And they will have robust independent certifications for organic and or biodynamic farming practices, with periodic independent auditing. These are true pioneers, leading the way and showing how it can be done.
Our Logistics
We're working with our supply chain to achieve minimal footprint logistics. This begins with efficiency, but we want to move it to as low carbon as possible. This starts in our distribution to customers - where we use carbon neutral delivery (from bicycle couriers in central London to national couriers using electric vehicles, and carbon offsetting everything else). In the logistics from winery to our warehouse in Surrey, we favour short haulage distances by truck, and sea wherever possible for longer distances. We track how everything is moved and then offset this with Gold Standard offsets to mitigate and compensate for the carbon emissions that we can't avoid.
Packaging
Perhaps one of the trickiest areas of wine is the bottle and the packaging that goes with it. Whilst we are working with our own packaging to make it as sustainable as possible - for example we ship your wine to you in recycled and recyclable boxes and use paper (rather than plastic) tape to seal them. We did try reusing the packaging the wine arrived to us in, but it simply couldn't cope with the UK distribution network and breakages ran too high (which in itself is not sustainable at all!). So we settle for using recycled and recyclable packaging to get your wine safely delivered to you. Alongside that, we're working with our wineries to minimise plastics, investigate reuse of bottles and to find a way to get cork recycling up and running in the UK.
Trading Fairly
Our core ethos is to encourage more sustainable wine production, and enable small holder, artisanal and ethical vineyards and wineries to make a decent living from producing amazing wines in the right ways. We pay a fair price for the gift of their approach and their conscientious skills. So we'll never be forcing prices low or squeezing suppliers in the way some others do (we won't name names...).
What about wine miles?
One of the first things that people think about when we say "Sustainable Wine" is that it's like food miles but for wine. I.e. buy as locally as possible.
Although the English wine scene is going through a great period of growth, and we certainly encourage people to enjoy them, to enjoy the breadth of the wine experience we know that people want to be able to choose wines from around the world. So we ran some analysis of wine miles and their impact. We were surprised by reaching a somewhat counterintuitive conclusion. From a life-cycle assessment approach, wine transport does have an impact, but freighting by sea is not as impactful as you might expect.
We calculate the greenhouse gas impacts of all of the wines we import and distribute, and we off-set the unavoidable and residual carbon impacts through certified Gold Standard Carbon Offset schemes in the UK and worldwide.
A review of 26 studies by Rugani et al showed that transport is ~12% of a bottle of wine’s overall greenhouse gas emissions (from cradle to grave), at 250g CO2e. For our New Zealand wines, the sea freight for the near 25,000 kms to the UK is 350g per bottle. This accounts therefore for an uplift of between 4% and (at an absolute maximum 14%) on the overall bottle of wine, compared to average. Organic wines in Rugani’s study accounted for a 15% DECREASE in overall greenhouse gas impacts compared to traditional wines.
So, shipping an organic New Zealand wine to the UK is still better than having a locally produced conventional wine, on average.
Explore our curated wine cases
Our mixed wine cases are a great way to discover a selection of wines from our portfolio, whether for yourself or as a gift.