Organic Wines Uncorked: Elizabeth Spencer's New Organically Grown $25 Cabernet Sauvignon and a DeLoach Chardonnay from Mendocino

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Elizabeth Spencer's New Organically Grown $25 Cabernet Sauvignon and a DeLoach Chardonnay from Mendocino

At a recent tasting in Napa at a trade event, I came across this new and lovely 2020 $25 Cabernet Sauvignon from Elizabeth Spencer that is now labeled "Made with Organic Grapes." International Sales Director Leigh Ann Reed said the winery is making about 5,000 cases of the Cab.

Boisset Collection acquired Elizabeth Spencer in December 2021.

Elizabeth Spencer usually made a few wines from Mendocino's organic growers, including a popular Sauvignon Blanc written about here many years ago.

Reed said Elizabeth Spencer will also be releasing "Made with Organic Grapes" 2019 Mendocino Chardonnay (see label featured at the bottom of this post). These may be arriving on Whole Foods shelves.

Boisset's International Sales Director Leigh Ann Reed displays the new
2020 Elizabeth Spencer Cabernet (unlisted on the winery website
but available for purchase there or at retailers).

The DeLoach brand, also owned by Boisset, features a new 2019 Chardonnay that is also Made with Organic Grapes.

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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, November 2, 2022

Elizabeth Spencer's New Organically Grown $25 Cabernet Sauvignon and a DeLoach Chardonnay from Mendocino

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