Organic Wines Uncorked: Sparkling Wines, Mendo Style: Hopland Tasting to Feature 5+ Organically Grown Sparklers

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Sparkling Wines, Mendo Style: Hopland Tasting to Feature 5+ Organically Grown Sparklers

I'm grateful to the sparkling wine Rack and Riddle facility for locating for a time in Mendocino County. This single incident gave rise to a new generation of organically grown sparkling wines.

When French Champagne house Louis Roederer came to Califorina, it didn't mess around with the Carneros or Sonoma. It went right to the cool climate Mendocino region, which it deemed perfect for growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the varietals Champagne is made from. And many critics, including the New York Times Eric Asimov, have applauded Roederer's wines.

While Roederer is partially growing organically (about 100+ out of 580 acres are organically farmed but not certified, according to the winery), other producers in the county, located in the warmer interior in the Sanel Valley or in coolish Potter Valley, have 7+ sparkling releases.

Now Mendocino's sparkling winemakers are putting on a joint tasting featuring a total of ten sparkling wines on Sat. April 5 from 12-4 in Hopland at Terra Savia. The tasting will include 5 wines from certified organic vines.

You can buy tickets online here.

The wines will be paired with smoked salmon, local oysters, pate, canapés, fresh strawberries and a lavender infused sponge cake.

The organically grown wines to be featured include:

POTTER VALLEY

MCFADDEN VINEYARDS

Both of these wines scored highly at the 2014 San Francisco Chronicle's Wine Competition, placing second only to Domaine Carneros' 2009 Brut ($32) and, somewhat shockingly, above Domaine Carneros' 2007 Le Reve ($100).

Nonvintage Cuvee Brut ($25)

• Made from 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir

• Double Gold Medal, SF Chronicle Wine Competition

Special Reserve Brut ($40)

• Higher end version of the Cuvee, this wine spends an extra 18 months on the lees

• Double Gold Medal, SF Chronicle Wine Competition

SANEL VALLEY

PAUL DOLAN VINEYARDS

Nonvintage Brut ($27)

• Made from Chardonnay

TERRA SAVIA

Blanc de Blancs ($30)

• 100% Chardonnay

• Aged for 36 months

Brut Rouge ($25)

• An unusual sparkler - made from 100% Merlot

• Gold Medal, SF Chronicle Wine Competition (2012)

Tickets are $55 and available online here. For more information, contact Terra Savia at 707-744-1114 or emailinfo@terrasavia.com.

1 comment:

PecosFebruary 28, 2014 at 12:40 PM
Hello, Pecos from Terra Sávia here, you can purchase tix at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/590621
Thanks for the writeup!
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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, February 25, 2014

Sparkling Wines, Mendo Style: Hopland Tasting to Feature 5+ Organically Grown Sparklers

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