Organic Wines Uncorked: New Class on Biodynamic Wines! Sunday, April 24 in Oakland

Thursday, March 10, 2016

New Class on Biodynamic Wines! Sunday, April 24 in Oakland

I am starting to offer tastings and tours through the lovely new web site GetGoneTraveler.com, started by a former Slow Food champion.

My first offering through this site is a 3 hour Sunday afternoon class in Oakland (near Mills College) designed to introduce wine lovers to Biodynamic vines and wines. Though the information in my apps is no longer available (due to the demise of the company on whose platform they were written on), I'll be sharing the information from the apps in this afternoon session. The cost is $50.

Come learn:

• What makes Biodynamic vineyards special
• Who makes wines from Biodynamic vines in Washington, Oregon and California
• What the different certification types tell consumers (i.e. you can even find additive free wines using these criteria)
• Regions where Biodynamics is more popular (and why)
• Where the best wines are

Whether you love Pinot Noir or Cabernet, Chardonnay or Rosé, you'll learn more about healthy ecosystems, soil and lovely, affordable wines. You don't need to support vines that use glyphosate (pretty much all of the non-organic growers); you can enjoy life without them!

Tastings will include wine from Martian Ranch and Vineyard, Qupé, Cooper Mountain, Montinore, Grgich Hills Estate and more.

Find out how you Can Have It All - supporting great farming and enjoying the best wines nature has to offer. Sign up at https://www.getgonetraveler.com/tours/introduction-to-biodynamic-wines-tasting-and-class

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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, March 10, 2016

New Class on Biodynamic Wines! Sunday, April 24 in Oakland

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