Organic Wines Uncorked: IN PHOTOS: Rhone Rangers Grand Tasting: Up and Coming Brands (Part 2 of 2)

Monday, April 7, 2014

IN PHOTOS: Rhone Rangers Grand Tasting: Up and Coming Brands (Part 2 of 2)

This post features younger brands with up and coming wines:

• Chacewater, located in Lake County with estate vines in both Lake County and the Sierra Foothills
• Campovida, located in Hopland, with some wines from organic Mendocino vineyards
• Martian Ranch and Vineyards, a Central Coast producer with 8 wines from its Biodynamic estate

Chacewater makes organically grown wines from its Sierra vineyards;
it also has vineyards (not organic) and raises olive trees in Lake County

Chacewater's Syrah ($20) and rosé of Syrah ($16)

Campovida, located in Hopland, sources 7 wines from
certified organic or Biodynamic vineyards

Campovida's Grenache comes from
the Dolan family's certified
Biodynamic Dark Horse Ranch

A standout: Campovida's organically sourced Viognier

Martian Ranch and Vineyards' general manager
Dawn Wilson and proprietor Nan Helgeland
celebrate their latest releases. The Santa Ynez
Valley winery's 20 acre vineyard was certified
Biodynamic in 2014. A number of their 9 wines
have been featured in the LA Times,
the SF Chronicle and the NY Times.

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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, April 7, 2014

IN PHOTOS: Rhone Rangers Grand Tasting: Up and Coming Brands (Part 2 of 2)

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