Greer's OC

With organic foods on our minds now more than ever, where does that leave us with wine? Easy enough to find some local restaurants incorporating sustainable, organic and biodynamic wines on their lists such as True Food Kitchen at Fashion Island and Seasons 52 at South Coast Plaza, now we’ve found that Laguna Beach is home to the Organic Wine Cellar, an importer, distributor and online retailer.

Founder Brian Cuddy has built this family-run organic wine company that started with domestic organic wines and now works with producers throughout Italy, including major wine-producing regions of Veneto, Piedmont, Tuscany, Apulia, Abruzzi, Calabria and Sicily.

These Italian farmers are committed to sustainable wine production for the better health of their families, workers, water and land. It’s not easy to make the Organic Cellar wine list, not only must wines meet a high-standard for taste and quality, but the the grapes be grown without the use of pesticides,  herbicides, fungicides and chemical fertilizers (like most wines are); and the wine making process must be  fermented naturally, no added sulfites, food coloring or powdered tannins.

The Organic Wine Cellar’s fine wines are carried locally at retailers including Stephen Frank Laguna Gourmet, Laguna Culinary Arts and Zinc Café, and are reasonably priced from $12 to $43. To find out more about the Organic Cellar’s wines, or join their wine club, visit theorganiccellar.com.

Contact The Organic Cellar at 949.306.5474.

Plant World!

Costa Mesa has a new neighborhood nursery that promises to offer better prices than large chain nurseries. Plant World Nursery and Garden Center just opened, next to LuLu Boutique (a favorite local boutique for casual designer fashions) and it’s offering Greer’s OC readers a special on one gallon succulents for just $5 through Sept. 1. Just mention us.

Plant World also carries a wide selection of outdoor plants including flowers, shrubs, hanging baskets, herbs, vegetables, fruit trees, palms and garden accessories, like pottery, arbors, soil, fertilizer and more.

Open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

1724 Tustin Ave. in Costa Mesa. 949.200.9904.