Organic Wines Uncorked: What to Drink in a Pandemic? Biodynamic Boxed Wines from Italy

Thursday, April 16, 2020

What to Drink in a Pandemic? Biodynamic Boxed Wines from Italy - And You Can Order Them Online

Pandemic? Don't panic. You can still move the climate change needle towards the good earth citizen end of the dial, avoid in store shopping and drink excellent, inexpensive table wine grown by an Italian coop in the Abruzzo - fair and friendly.

The amazing Lunaria brand winery is my hands down favorite when it comes to recommending a pandemic wine.

Choose your color: red or pink...I am a huge fan of both, though I tend to favor the what I call rosé.

Lunaria's Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

Demeter certified, biodynamic wine from Italy, this wine is $72 for TWO boxes, making it the equivalent of $36 a box or $9 a bottle. It's made by a cooperative on the eastern coast of central Italy You can order it online from Organic Wine Exchange here.

Lunaria's Pinot Grigio - A Copper Colored "Rosé"

The same cooperative also offers a beautiful crisp, clean Pinot Grigio that is also a lovely balance of fruit and acidity. You can buy it here.

See the comments section for a list of retailers (provided by Mountain People's Wine in California).

1 comment:

Pam StrayerApril 24, 2020 at 1:24 PM
AMAL'S DELI
CALIFORNIA ORGANICS
CALLA LILY CREPES
CANAPA FARMS
HEALTHY HABIT, THE
IKE'S QUARTER CAFE
LA GASTRONOMIA
MARKET 5-ONE-5
MEZZO ITALIANO
NEW EARTH MARKET - CHICO
NEW MOON Truckee
ON THE MARK
ORGANIC WINE EXCHANGE
PALACE MARKET
POUR HOUSE, THE - GV
ROBERTS MARKET of WOODSIDE
SERVENTE'S
SIERRA HILLS MARKET
VOM FASS Ghirardelli Square
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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).

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Thursday, April 16, 2020

What to Drink in a Pandemic? Biodynamic Boxed Wines from Italy - And You Can Order Them Online

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