Organic Wines Uncorked: Sunset Wine Competition Awards: Organic Winners!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Sunset Wine Competition Awards: Organic Winners!

The results of Sunset Magazine's 2013 Wine Competition are in. Here are the organically grown wines and their competition scores.

It's an uneven contest - many of the best wines are not entered, but the results are still fun to evaluate.

A few of my favorites did well and I hope this brings them a wider audience - Volker Eisele Terzetto (a steal at $75 compared to other Bordeaux blends in its league). Ampelos won best in class for its Syrah.

In addition, it's always amazing to me how well Bonterra does compared to wines that are 2-5 times its price. Its Chardonnay did well as did its Pinot Noir and Zinfandel with all three winning silver medals (against stiff competition).

Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Gold
2009 Rocca Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, Yountville Grigsby Vineyard $80.00
Silver
2009 Grgich Hills Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Estate Grown $60.00
Bronze
2009 Long Meadow Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley $47.00
2009 Rocca Family Vineyards Vespera Napa Valley $50.00
2009 V. Sattui Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Preston Vineyard $49.00

Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
Gold
2010 Signaterra Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley Three Blocks $50.00
Bronze
2010 Bonterra Cabernet Sauvignon California Made with Organic Grapes 87% Mendocino County/13% Lake County $15.99

Chardonnay 2010
Bronze
Alma Rosa Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills El Jabali Vineyard $28.00
Terra Savia Chardonnay Mendocino Made with Organic Grapes Sanel Valley Vineyards,
Estate Grown, Limited Release $13.50

Chardonnay 2011
Silver
2011 Bergström Wines Sigrid Chardonnay Oregon, Willamette Valley $80.00
2011 Bonterra Chardonnay Mendocino County Made with Organic Grapes $13.99

Bronze
2011 Signaterra West Rows Chardonnay Carneros Made with Organically Grown Grapes Sangiacomo Vineyard $32.00

Merlot 2008
Bronze
2008 Grgich Hills Estate Merlot Napa Valley Estate Grown $42.00

Pinot Noir 2009
Bronze
2009 Ampelos Lambda: The Magnitude, Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills Ampelos Vineyard $35.00

Pinot Noir 2010
Gold
2010 Alma Rosa Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills La Encantada Vineyard $43.00
2011 Signaterra Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Bella Luna Vineyard $49.00
2011 Bonterra Pinot Noir Mendocino County Made with Organic Grapes $15.99
Silver
2011 Bergström Wines Pinot Noir Oregon, Dundee Hills Bergström Vineyard $80.00
2011 Bergström Wines Pinot Noir Oregon, Chehalem Mountains de Lancellotti Vineyard $65.00

Red Meritage or Bordeaux Blend
Gold
2008 Volker Eisele Family Estate Terzetto Napa Valley $75.00
Bronze
2009 Terra Savia Reserve Meritage Mendocino Made with Organic
Grapes Sanel Valley Vineyards, Estate Grown, Limited Release $18.00

Rose
Bronze
2012 Verdad Grenache Rose Edna Valley Demeter Certified Biodynamic® Grapes Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard $18.00

Sauvignon Blanc
Bronze
2011 Bonterra Sauvignon Blanc 53% Lake County, 47% Mendocino County Made with Organic Grapes $13.99

Syrah/Shiraz, Vintage 2009
Best of Class, Gold
2009 Ampelos Syrah Sta. Rita Hills Ampelos Vineyard $35.00

Zinfandel
Silver
2010 Bonterra Zinfandel Mendocino County Made from Organic Grapes $15.99

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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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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Sunset Wine Competition Awards: Organic Winners!

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