Owner Of Bio-dynamic And Organic Winery Chateau Maris announces

More than 50 top rated restaurants in New York City offered Chateau Maris in February, including Pearl and Ash, Blue Water Grill, Bell Book and Candle, Tribeca Grill, Nomad and the Waldorf Astoria. The Wine Advocate, The Rhone Report and Wine Enthusiast Magazine have all given Chateau Maris' top wines 93+ point ratings. When Parker and partner Robert Eden purchased Chateau Maris in 1997, they refused to apply any synthetic chemical fertilizers, pesticides or fungicides. As a result, Maris has been certified organic by Ecocert and biodynamic by Demeter and Biodyvin for over a decade. The thriving domain is located on a 79-acre estate in the Cru La Liviniere, Languedoc, France.

"Our sales are at record highs and we continue to grow rapidly driven by the growing interest in products that are sustainable and organic," said Parker. "Consumers are more focused than ever before on health and wellness, and they want to know what they are putting into their bodies is free of chemicals. Companies are beginning to recognize this demand and emphasizing more sustainable practices in their businesses."

The winery is also home to the world's first carbon negative hemp cellar. The 9,000-square-foot cellar is energy self-sufficient and biodegradable, and the hemp bricks are able to maintain temperature and humidity at a consistent level. In addition, the hemp and lime bricks also absorb and store CO2 prompting Wine Spectator in 2013 to name Maris one of top four wineries in the world "confronting climate change head on."

The practices that Parker uses for his winery are also what drive his business objectives. Parker, who is also the CEO of Sustainable Insight Capital Management (SICM), an investment management firm focused on companies with superior environmental, social and governance practices, recognizes the market for sustainably grown products and the need for sustainable companies, and employs this concept to fuel SICM's business strategy. The firm operates under the philosophy that today's most forward-thinking companies are responding to challenges and opportunities created by population growth, natural resource scarcity, climate change, urbanization and globalization. SICM's research suggests that markets are inefficient and not accurately pricing securities to reflect these macro trends.

In a recent report, "Linking Climate Engagement to Financial Performance: An Investor's Perspective" with the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), SICM and CDP concluded that the relationship between corporate engagement and action on climate change and financial performance of the world's largest corporations is significant. Companies in the top quintile of climate disclosure provide premiums of +5.2 percent return on equity, +18.1 percent cash flow stability and +1.6 percent dividend growth over their peers in the bottom quintile.