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What’s behind the trend toward more organic
wines?
The recent surge of interest in organic foods has
indeed not escaped the wine business. According to the Organic Trade Association, an
industry group representing producers and distributors of organic foods,
U.S. sales of wines made with organic grapes reached $80 million in 2005, a
28 percent increase over the previous year. Such sales represent little
more than 1 percent of the total U.S. domestic wine market, but the
association expects organic-wine sales to grow by about 17 percent a year
through 2008, mirroring growth across all sectors of organic agriculture. There are two types of organic labeling on wines. The
vast majority of wines made with organically grown grapes do not qualify
for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s white-and-green
“certified organic” label. This is because, like many
conventional wines, they include added sulfite preservatives to prevent
oxidation and bacterial spoilage. Although trace amounts of sulfites occur naturally in
wines during the fermentation process, most producers add more, later in
the winemaking process, to prolong shelf life. An estimated 1 percent of
consumers, primarily those with asthma, report sensitivity to wines with
larger amounts of sulfites. Symptoms can include a quickened pulse, lung
irritation, skin redness, and rashes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
banned the use of sulfites on fruits and vegetables in 1986 after they were
linked to the deaths of 13 consumers.
Current USDA rules allow wines containing fewer than
10 parts per million of sulfites and made from organic grapes to carry the
“certified organic” label. But organic wines may only advertise
that they are “made from organic grapes” if they contain more
than 10 ppm and up to 100 ppm of sulfites. Some growers of organic grapes
consider it unfair that the addition of sulfites — which occur
naturally and are not synthetic chemicals — should disqualify their
wines from “certified organic” standing. Moving beyond organic, a handful of vineyards have
adopted so-called “biodynamic” grape-growing methods, adding to
organic methods the practice of cultivating, pruning, and harvesting on a
strict calendar in sync with the lunar cycle. Many view such practices
skeptically; nonetheless, proponents claim that biodynamic wines taste
better and remain drinkable longer. The Web site Wine Anorak
(“anorak” is British slang for “geek” or
“nerd”) lists biodynamic wine labels from around the world.
Some leading organic (and low-sulfite) wines include
varieties from Ceàgo, Frey, LaRocca, Bonterra, and Organic Wine
Works. Meanwhile, the California-based Organic Wine Co. sources and
distributes organic wines from around the world. Additionally, California
Certified Organic Farmers, a trade group representing that state’s
organic-agriculture industry, provides a free online directory of
California organic products and services, including the state’s many
purveyors of organic and biodynamic wines.
For more information:
Wine Anorak, www.wineanorak.com/ biodynamic3.htm; Ceàgo,
www.ceago.com, Frey Vineyards, www.freywine.com; Bonterra,
www.bonterra.com; Organic Wine Co., www.theorganicwinecompany.com; CCOF
Organic Directory, www.ccof.org/ directories.php.
Send questions to Earth Talk, care of E/The Environmental Magazine,
P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881 or e-mail earthtalk@emagazine.com.
This article appears in Jun 14-20, 2007.
