Organic Wines Uncorked: Slow Wine Guide, Part 1: California and Oregon Picks: Biodynamic, Organic Producers Win Top Awards

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Slow Wine Guide, Part 1: California and Oregon Picks: Biodynamic, Organic Producers Win Top Awards

Alex Davis from Porter Creek Vineyards in Sonoma, which won a Snail award,
at the Slow Wine tasting at Pier 27 Monday.

Slow Wine released its 2019 guide this week announcing its Snail awards to Italian, California and Oregon wineries. U.S. Organic and Biodynamic producers took 18 out of the 44 U.S. top spots.

BIODYNAMIC SNAILS

Among the top winners for the group's top award - the Snail - were 7 Biodynamic wineries (out of 34 total) from California and 5 Biodynamic wineries (out of 10) from Oregon. The Snail represents wineries with "high quality wines, originality, respect for the land and environment."

That's 20% of the California snails and 50% of the Oregon snails. Considering Biodynamic certification is rather rare, this is a very impressive showing.

CALIFORNIA

Paso
• AmByth Estate
• Villa Creek Cellars

SBC
• Beckmen Vineyards
• Grimm's Bluff
• Solminer

Sonoma
• Porter Creek Vineyards
• Radio-Coteau

Claire Jarreau, asst. winemaker for Brooks,
which won a Snail award

OREGON

Willamette Valley AVA

Eola-Amity Hills
• Brooks

Ribbon Ridge
• Brick House

Willamette Valley
• Cooper Mountain Vineyards

Van Duzer Corridor AVA
• Johan Vineyards

Applegate Valley AVA (southern Oregon)
• Troon Vineyard (in transition to BD certification)

I'm happy to say that all but one of these exhibited at the International Biodynamic Wine Conference last year. Bravo to the Snails!

ORGANIC SNAILS

And, of course, more kudos to all of the Snails with certified organic estates! Organic certification in the U.S. is about 2 percent or less, so this is also a very special group of producers.

CALIFORNIA

Mendocino
Anderson Valley

• Drew

Napa Valley

• Frog's Leap
• Matthiasson
• Storybook Mountain Vineyards

OREGON

Willamette Valley AVA
• Eyrie Vineyards
• Lumos Wine Co.

The Eyrie Pinot from Original Vines also
won a Great Wine award

AN APPRECIATION

It is hard work for these producers to farm organically and it's probably not a lot of fun to get certified. But quality and commitment (certification) shows and the extra effort is appreciated. Let it not go unrecognized.

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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, March 6, 2019

Slow Wine Guide, Part 1: California and Oregon Picks: Biodynamic, Organic Producers Win Top Awards

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