Organic Wines Uncorked: It's ZZZZZZinfandel Zeason: ZAP Comes to the Bay Area

Thursday, January 29, 2015

It's ZZZZZZinfandel Zeason: ZAP Comes to the Bay Area

ZAP madness has begun. The Zinfandel Advocates & Producers' passion for Zin annually celebrates all things Zinfandel each winter in the Bay Area, kicking off its 5 days of events with a trade and media tasting Wednesday in Alameda, headlined by a panel of Zin experts.

Upcoming events include:
• a night of food and wine pairing (tonight, $135) with dozens of restaurants preparing bites paired with wineries' selections
• a Friday night (sold out) dinner at the Four Seasons, focused on regional variations in Zin (featuring Amador, Contra Costa and Dry Creek wines)
• a grand tasting Saturday from 11-5 ($170 for public)
• a Sat. night dinner event

Yesterday's panel took attendees through eight wines, showing the range of Zin's expressions in the hands of different vintners and different vines.

Enjoy these photos from the panel's presentation.

Wineries with organically grown wines at the event include:

• Carol Shelton's Monga Zin from the historic Cucamonga vineyard in southern California
• Milliaire's Clockspring Zinfandel from Amador vines
• Ridge Vineyards' East Bench and Geyserville Zins from Sonoma County
• Turley's Estate Zinfandel from St. Helena in Napa
• Tres Sabores Zinfandel, an old vine Zin from Rutherford in Napa County

The panel was held at the Rock Wall winery in Alameda, which
has stunning views of the SF Bay - and plenty of free parking (it's on
the former Navy base)

The panel of three experts, moderated by Randy Caporoso (from Lodi)
included from left to right, Tim Fish from the Wine Spectator, sommelier
Lulu McAllister, wine director of NOPA restaurant, and Wilfred Wong
of online retailer Wine.com.

Lulu McAllister said Zin's food friendliness was often overlooked
on wine lists.

Joel Petersen, of Ravenswood, with his son Morgan
Twain-Petersen, of Bedrock, commented on the regional
variation of Zin's expressions

During the tasting, I sampled the Clockspring
Milliaire Zin, the only organic
vineyard in Amador County for decades
(it was recently sold and will no longer be organic)

Joel Ravenswood was pouring a 1994 Zin from
the historic Old Hill (Bucklin) vineyard - one
of the oldest in the state, planted in 1852.

The Old Hill is a classic field blend - with more than 14
varieties in the vineyard.

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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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Thursday, January 29, 2015

It's ZZZZZZinfandel Zeason: ZAP Comes to the Bay Area

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