Organic Wines Uncorked: Hanzell Vineyards Certified Organic

Monday, September 6, 2021

Hanzell Vineyards Certified Organic

Congratulations to Hanzell!

@jasonmjardine - President | Farmer | Director of Winemaking
@brandon.bredo - Hanzell Farm Manager

Announcement from Hanzell Vineyards' Instagram page:

"It’s been a long time coming but it’s official…we’re now certified organic through CCOF!! For years, we have been farming this land with intention and commitment to ensure the health of our ecosystem while considering our impact on the tiniest fungi to the grandest of trees, and everything and everyone in between. Care for our vines, the woodlands, native wildlife, grazing animals and more than anything, the health and well-being of the people who make up this Hanzell family have driven every decision we make. It feels good to hold this sign and to be able to say that we’re certified organic, knowing all the hard work over the years means something to people beyond our front gate. We look forward to many more years, farming and sustaining this treasure we all love so much."

According to the USDA organic database online, in addition to the grapes, the winery has also been certified organic, which is usually done when a winery begins to make certified wines (in addition to growing certified grapes).

2 comments:

Pam NovakSeptember 8, 2021 at 9:56 AM
Congrats Jason! Nice to see this accomplishment. Cheers to you success! Pam
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Pam NovakSeptember 8, 2021 at 9:58 AM
Excellent! Congrats on this huge achievement!
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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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Monday, September 6, 2021

Hanzell Vineyards Certified Organic

2 comments:

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