Organic Wines Uncorked: $108 a Case for a 2005 Zinfandel, $69 a Case for Unoaked Chardonnay

Monday, December 5, 2011

$108 a Case for a 2005 Zinfandel, $69 a Case for Unoaked Chardonnay

Charlie Barra, Mendocino wine grower/vintner

APRIL 2013 UPDATE: The sale originally mentioned here is over - BUT THERE'S A NEW SALE. See here.

ORIGINAL POST
Big big big sale at Barra/Girasole Wines today - call now to stock up on party wines or your year round house wine needs.

Santa arrived early for those of us who have yen for the Charlie's Zin. The 2005 Zin, one of my personal favorites, is now $108 a case, down from $240 a case. Is that about 60% off?

(Just bought three cases including one to gift to friends' who frequently have me for dinner.)

The 2006 Petite Syrah is priced the same.

On the Girasole (unoaked) side of the house, the Chardonnay is on sale for $69 a CASE, as are the Girasole Zin and Cab.

Hopefully this eliminates buying nonorganic wines for those people who say organic is "too expensive." The Girasole sale puts the per bottle price at about $5.75 a bottle.

On the Barra reserve wines, the Cabernet is $21 a bottle and the Pinot Noir is $19. (Just bought one case of the Cab - which got a pretty darn good rating from Vinography's Alder Yarrow - see here - of between 8 and 8.5.)

Carlo Petrini, Slow Foods

Barra's wines were featured this summer in a Slow Foods benefit dinner at Masas where chef Gregory Short built the menu around five of Charlie Barra's wines. See here.

Here's a link to a diner's experience of that most memorable meal - with Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini in attendance.

The sale continues now through the end of the year or whenever these wines sell out...so take advantage of the sale for your party wine shopping - and your gift shopping.

Call now - you can have the wines shipped or pick up later at the winery (right next to 101 in Ukiah) -

707-485-0322

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Wines We Cover

We publish information about wines grown from certified organic or Biodynamic vineyards that are generally made with sulfites (which are usually added in small amounts to preserve the wine).

That includes these certification types:

ORGANIC WINE CERTIFICATIONS

• Made with Organic Grapes

Vineyards: certified organic

Vinification: less than 100 ppm of sulfites (i.e. a normal range)

Winery: certified organic facility

Labeling: front or back label

• Ingredients: Organic Grapes

Vineyards: certified organic

Vinification: up to 350 ppm of sulfites (same as for any non organic wine)

Labeling: back label only

BIODYNAMIC® CERTIFICATIONS

• Biodynamic Wine

Vineyards: certified biodynamic

Yeasts: native

Vinification: less than 100 ppm of sulfites; no additives of any kind

Winery: certified biodynamic facility

Labeling: front or back label; Demeter logo may appear

• Made with Biodynamic Grapes

Vineyards: certified biodynamic

Yeasts: native or organic

Vinification: less than 100 ppm of sulfites; limited number of additives permitted

Winery: certified biodynamic facility

Labeling: front or back

Note: unlike organically grown wines, for which there is a category called "Ingredients: Organic Grapes," wines sourced from biodynamic grapes may not make any biodynamic claim on the bottle label. Bottle labeling is reserved for Demeter certified wines only.

SULFITES IN CONTEXT

According to U.C. Davis, the average among all wines in the U.S. (as well as globally) is 80 ppm.

WHAT THE USDA CALLS ORGANIC WINES

Unlike any other nation, the U.S. oddly imposes a no sulfite restriction on wines in order for them to be called Organic Wine. These wines are also called NSA or NAS wines (which stands for "No Sulfites Added" or "No Added Sulfites.")

From the above description, one can see that there are in fact three types of organically grown wines:

1. Organic Wine (less than 15% of all organically grown wine)

2. Made with Organic Grapes

3. Ingredients: Organic Grapes

The vast majority of wines from organic grapes are labeled Made with Organic Grapes, Ingredients: Organic Grapes or are blended with nonorganic grapes and unlabeled.

Fine winemakers do not generally make wine without sulfites and a number of large wine retailers like BevMo do not sell wine in the category of "USDA Organic Wine."

With rare exceptions, this blog does not cover what the USDA calls "Organic Wine."

We are hopeful that the USDA will revise the categorization of organically grown wines and make NSA or NAS wines a category of their own.

This would put the U.S. in accord with the rest of the world, where "Organic Wine" means a wine from certified grapes made within limits on sulfites (generally under 100-150 ppm).

Organic Wines Uncorked

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Monday, December 5, 2011

$108 a Case for a 2005 Zinfandel, $69 a Case for Unoaked Chardonnay

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