Organic Wines Uncorked: Santa Cruz Tasting Room Scene: The Organics Among Them

Friday, April 6, 2012

Santa Cruz Tasting Room Scene: The Organics Among Them

As I mentioned just a short bit earlier, I finally got to Bonny Doon's tasting room and restaurant in Santa Cruz last week - a hip, trendy spot with lots of fun wine graphics and ambience. I was there on a mission - to visit "mainstream bohemian" wine mecca Bonny Doon as well as to answer the question, hopefully once and for all, as to which Bonny Doon wines actually are organically grown (having failed to find answers via traditional channels - i.e. calling and emailing).

Part 2 of the quest answered (in this here post). And now onto the next frontier - visiting Bonny Doon and the Other Wineries with Organically Grown Wines in the vicinity. Turns out Bonny Doon's location is now a little Mecca village of its own - with several other winery tasting room adjacent in the same shopping/warehouse area.

The two of interest to The Organically Inclined are Silver Mountain with three organically grown wines (now) and Vine Hill, which will be offering its first certified organically grown wines in 2013.

Here are the winery tasting rooms in photos.

Silver Mountain

From the Pinot region of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Silver Mountain offers the following organically grown wines:

• 2007 Pinot Noir Miller Hill Vineyard ($38)
• 2007 Pinot Noir Estate ($38)
• Chardonnay Estate (not listed on website)

The winery/vineyard in the Santa Cruz mountains is open 12-5 on Saturdays (or other times by appointment). The Santa Cruz tasting room is open 12-5 Thursday through Sunday.

Vine Hill

Starting in 2013, Vine Hill will be releasing organically grown wines (now aging in the barrel). Stay tuned.

In the meantime, enjoy these photos of the Vine Hill tasting room, around the corner from Silver Mountain and Bonny Doon.

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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, April 6, 2012

Santa Cruz Tasting Room Scene: The Organics Among Them

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