Organic Wines Uncorked: The Organic Side: Alsatian Wine Festival in Anderson Valley This Weekend

Friday, February 17, 2012

The Organic Side: Alsatian Wine Festival in Anderson Valley This Weekend

Don't have your President's Day weekend plans together yet? Quick, jump on it and get up to the 7th Annual International Alsace Varietals Festival this weekend (Feb. 17-18).

The highlight of this festival is the opportunity to taste Alsatian varietals from French and German (and New Zealand) producers side by side with their American counterparts (from California, Oregon and NY).

Alsatian wine varietals include Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Muscat, and Gewurztraminer - all wines worth getting to know as they offer some of the most exquisite tastes.

They're a much overlooked and worthy change from Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs.

You can follow the conference on Twitter at @AlsaceFest.

Participating organic wineries include Handley Cellars (Mendo estate only) in Anderson Valley, McFadden (all) from Potter Valley/Hopland, and Hagafen (selected wines only) and Robert Sinskey (all) of Napa.

(Though these are the only organic viticulture wineries in the festival, there are many other wineries in the U.S. - primarily in Oregon - that offer Alsatian varieties raised and certified organic so if you are a connoisseur of these varietals, seek them out as well. These include Bethel Heights, Cooper Mountain, Lemelson, Montinore, Pheasant Valley, Sokol Blosser (only some wines) Snoqualmie's Naked (from Washington) and more.)

The event takes place in downtown Boonville.

SATURDAY
Following a technical conference in the morning ($45), Food Network star Beau MacMillan will offer a 30 minute cooking demonstration from 12-1. Samples of his food will be served at Saturday's Grand Tasting from 1-4. Tickets for the Grand Tasting are $65. Click here for details.

Organically Grown Wines to Taste:

Hagafen: Riesling
Handley: Gewurztraminer
McFadden: All on offer
Robert Sinskey: All on offer

SUNDAY
Area wineries will be open and offering special discounts and food tidbits from 11-5. This is when you can visit Handley Cellars, the only winery in Anderson Valley with an organic estate vineyard.

LODGING
If you can't get a place in pricey Anderson Valley (likely to be quite full), I recommend Ukiah motels. For budget pricing you can't beat the Motel 6 ($40) which I have found to be quiet and clean, and the front desk staff friendly, bright and helpful. Midrange motels can be found in abundance in Ukiah near Starbucks et al in giant shopping centers district. If you are in Ukiah, don't miss shopping for organically grown wines at the Ukiah Natural Foods market - one of the best selections of organically grown wine in the state.

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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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Friday, February 17, 2012

The Organic Side: Alsatian Wine Festival in Anderson Valley This Weekend

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