Sowing Seeds To Save Them
For growers, heirloom varieties make both gastronomic and economic sense. When Jennifer McCloud started Chrysalis Vineyards in Middleburg, Va., she turned to the Norton--a native American grape variety from Virginia that growers abandoned during Prohibition and was all but forgotten. "It's very hearty and disease resistant. I spray my European grapes for fungus 15 times as opposed to two or three for the Norton," says McCloud.
But there's another reason that McCloud loves the fruit: "When I first tasted a Norton wine, it blew my socks off. It's not a taste-alike for some European grape. There's a unique identity and flavor profile--a sort of wild character that speaks to America." A character that might be worth saving.
Superfresh
When Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., in 1971, she hoped to re-create the simple but exquisite dishes she'd tasted in France. But she also brought her ideals to the kitchen. Waters shunned big factory farms, turning instead to local, organic farms and ranches. Food is best, she concluded, when delivered from the field to the table as quickly as possible--a philosophy that now pervades restaurant kitchens nationwide. From fast-food chain Chipotle's free-range pork to market greens at high-end restaurants, a national movement was born from Waters's commitment to her ingredients.
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