THE SUSTAINABILITY IN SPIRITS SERIES
This is our fourth installment in a series that defines sustainability in spirits and shares some selections from our very own spirits portfolio.
PART I
Square One Organic Spirits
Today we’re excited to share the story of. . .
*drumroll*
REAL MINERO
The 2018 documentary Agave: The Spirit of a Nation helped to solidify mezcal-producer Graciela Angeles’ reputation as a thought leader in the burgeoning mezcal industry. Angeles left her hometown of Santa Catarina Minas to earn her PhD in rural development and returned at age 23 to assist her father, Don Lorenzo, with his fourth generation mezcal business. Upon his death in 2016, Graciela broke from patriarchal tradition and took helm of the mining village’s famed distillery Real Minero.
Alongside her brother Edgar and mother Doña Florentina, Graciela runs an intense program to maintain one of the world’s “largest diverse sustainable agave reforestation projects” according to the Bard Center for Environmental Policy. With water shortages and climate crisis in mind, she identifies adaptable agave species such as Karwinskii Teotitlan to help proliferate endemic species of agave.
The farm is also dedicated to preserving over-harvested wild agave species and encouraging genetic diversity amongst their hundreds of thousands of agave plants where a mixture of chile, oregano, pepper, garlic, cinnamon, and vinegar is used to deter pests in lieu of pesticide.
Graciela and her family have also built an impressive community library in their town of Minas, creating a key social and educational hub for its inhabitants. As the town’s first college graduate, she regularly provides economic opportunities through educational seminars and gainful employment.
While the production practices at Real Minero are the most traditional, utilizing earthen ovens, wooden vats, and clay pot stills, their view is decidedly focused on the future, embodying the very definition of sustainability.
As author and educator in regenerative development, Daniel Wahl points out:
Ms. Angeles and her mission strive to achieve just that.
This sultry Espadín exhibits notes of sage and pear skin, with a long, dry finish.
This creamy blend of both cultivated and wild agave is a pleasing combination of celery and cream cheese on the palate, with hints of cantaloupe rind.
