Organics
Organic products are extremely important to preserving our health and environment and they’re soaring in popularity. If you have been searching for organic wine, you may notice that you will find many bottles labeled ‘made from organically grown grapes’ rather than labeled as ‘organic wine’. The main reason: sulfites.
The dreaded sulfite seems to be more feared by the American wine consumer than swimming with chum on your back in a tank of great white sharks. As we learned in the last issue of Vino Nostrum , some people do have sulfite sensitivity. About 1 in 100 people will have some type of allergic reaction to the amount of sulfites allowed in wine. Asthmatics and those with serious sulfite allergies have good reason to fear them…the rest of us do not.
Let’s review. Sulfites are a natural byproduct of grape fermentation and then additional sulfites are added to the vast majority of wine as a preserving agent. They stabilize wine to give it longer life, prevent whites from browning, prevent unpleasant odors, etc. Most wine makers will agree that you cannot produce a good wine without adding sulfites. Those that are produced without added sulfites are intended to be consumed more quickly (whites within one year of bottling and reds may have up to about 5 years).
Several of our producers use organically grown grapes, as it is quite a common practice in Italy. Italian wines may be certified as ‘vino biologico’ for organically grown or ‘biodinamico’ which is a stricter certification. However, for a few different reasons you will rarely see Italian wines labeled as such. 1. Certification such as these cannot be on a year to year basis and if the harvest is threatened, you can be sure they will spray the vineyards to save them. 2. The ‘biodinamico’ seal is evidently quite large and ugly and not favored for the aesthetic appeal of the bottle. 3. For the most part, great wine producers throughout the world are concerned with producing traditional quality wine, not following rules to place a specific label on the bottle. This is especially true when that specific label will require time, money, and bureaucratic headaches to gain certification.
Some of our producers with organic or biodynamic certification or working toward certification include: Majnoni Guicciardini, La Cantina Pizzolato, I Giusti & Zanza, Fattoria La Ripa, and Vinchio Vaglio Serra.