Organic Wines Uncorked: Vineyard Teams' Tailgate Event: Grazing as a Sustainable Practice for Vineyards [March 12 in Los Olivos at Solminer]

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

Vineyard Teams' Tailgate Event: Grazing as a Sustainable Practice for Vineyards [March 12 in Los Olivos at Solminer]

Sheep curious? Come to the Vineyard Team's upcoming event at Solminer in Los Olivos.

A growing number of organic vineyardists are adopting sheep for more than just weed control. The saliva and urine of sheep are natural fertilizers, too, which I learned in late Feb. from Kelly Mulville when I attended a two day regenerative organic workshop at Paicines Ranch, along with dozens of leading winemakers and viticulturists.

Certified organic speakers among the presenters: Kelly will be one of the speakers, along with Hillary Graves from Booker in Paso. Grower and vintner Anna DeLaski of Solminer (certified organic and biodynamic) hosts at her lovely small farm in Los Olivos.

EVENT

An in-depth look at the intricacies, logistics, challenges, and effects of grazing sheep in vineyards. A vineyard tour and grazing demo with owner/operator Anna DeLaski of Solminer followed by a panel discussion led by Gabe Worthington (MTI Soil Scientist/ Certified Crop Advisor) on the effects of incorporating grazing into permanent cropping systems. Panel includes Kelly Mulville (Paicines Ranch), Hillary Graves (Booker Vineyard), Mindy Record (Paso de Record & JUSTIN Vineyards), Randy Record(Paso de Record), and Cole Bakke (IOU Sheep Co.).

Speakers

Anna DeLaski, Solminer

Gabe Worthington, MTI

Kelly Mulville, Paicines Ranch

Hillary Graves, Booker Vineyard

Mindy Record, Paso de Record & JUSTIN Vineyards

Randy Record, Paso de Record

Cole Bakke, IOU Sheep Co.

CE Approved: CCA 2 S

SIP Certified Members: Earn hours for Standard 12.1.1 (annual 20 hours of CE) by uploading your registration receipt. Also, see if you can apply what you learned to earn more points in the chapter below:

Chapter 6 - Energy Conservation & Efficiency

Project Partners: Measure to Improve, and Vineyard Team

We [the organizers] would like to thank the USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodity Grant [endangered species, editorial comment from Pam] for the investment in expanding markets for U.S. climate-smart commodities, leveraging the greenhouse gas benefits of climate-smart commodity production, and providing direct, meaningful benefits to production agriculture, including for small and underserved producers.

NOTE: Solminers' wines are fantastic! Some of my faves.

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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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Tuesday, March 4, 2025

Vineyard Teams' Tailgate Event: Grazing as a Sustainable Practice for Vineyards [March 12 in Los Olivos at Solminer]

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