ORGANIC WINE

WHAT Is ORGANIC WINE?

  • Organic Wine is Vinified With Natural Yeast, There Are Strict Rules On Fining and Filtration, No Introduction Malolactic Bacteria, and No Sulphur Dioxide.
  • Follows Ecologically Responsible Actions and Processes But Doesn’t Say What You Must Do or When You Should Do it. Organic Producers are not Responsible For Waste Management or Sound Irrigation Practices.
  • Uses Plant and Mineral Based Products to Detour Disease and Pest and Increase the Health of the Soil and the Vineyard.
  • 1% of Worlds Grape Growers Produce Grapes Organically, 10% of California Grape Growers Produce Grapes Organically.
  • Organic Viticulture is the Way Farming and Winemaking was Done for Thousands of Years Prior to the Industrial Revolution In Agriculture That Took Place In the 1920’s.
  • Organic- Anyone Can Misrepresent Their Agricultural Product Without Recourse.
  • USDA. Certified Organic

“Agriculture That Prohibits Synthetics; Fertilizers, Fungicides, Herbicides, Pesticides.”

  • VITICULTURAL CHALLENGES
    • Widespread Spraying In the Vineyard of Pesticides Has Been Linked to the Collapsing or Eradication of Insects and Bird Populations and Overuse of Herbicides and Fungicides Contaminates the Watershed and Degrades the Soil Making it Dependent On Fertilizers.

ORGANICALLY GROWN GRAPES– Grapes Grown Organically, These Wines Follow All the Organic Guidelines Till They’re Harvested. During Fermentation or Prior to Corking They See Some Level of Sulphur Exposure to Unsure Integrity.

ORGANICALLY PRODUCED WINE– Grapes Grown Organically, But Can’t and Don’t Add or Use Any Sulfur Dioxide During Wine Making Process.

  • WHY GET CERTIFIED
    • Credibly Communicate to Consumers
    • Get Credit For Your Work
    • Drive Continuous Improvement

“Seek Out Organic Grape Growers and Don’t Fret About Producers Using Sulfur Dioxide to Assure Sound Wines at Bottling.”

  • HISTORY–
    • 1980’s @France– Organic Wine Making Movement.

ORGANIC WINE PIONEERS

  • PIONEERS~ ~Sir Albert Howard~ Founder of Organic Farming Movement.
    • ~Walter James~  Coined Term Organic Farming, Concept of Farm as an Organism.
    • ~Patrick Holden~ British Farmer and Activist Who Campaigns For Organic and Sustainable Farming.

ORGANIC WINE PRODUCERS

  • Pacific Redwood (Mendocino AVA.)                   Frey (Mendocino AVA)
  • Badger Mountain (Columbia Valley AVA.)        Organic Agriculturist (Mendocino AVA.)
  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?–“CONTENTIOUS WINE ISSUE!” “Organic Wine is Better Than Conventional Wine!”
    • NO… “You Can Grow Better Grapes Organically But Nobody Can Produce a Better Wine Organically. Organic Wine Producers Who Don’t Add Sulfur to Their Freshly Harvest Grapes, Must, Prior to Bottling Are Always at Risk For Wine to Be Compromised.”
  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?  “Is Being Organic In Europe the Same Thing as Being Organic In America?”
    • “Europe Has Dropped Organic Standards and Have “Looser” Restrictions On Organic Wine Making. The Use of Sulfur is Allow and a Wine Can Still Be Labeled “Organic”, While In the USA. any Use of Sulfur During Wine-Making Disallowed the Moniker or “Organic.”
  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?–“CONTENTIOUS WINE ISSUE!” “Getting Certified Organically is Like Paying Someone A lot of Money Annually to Come Audit Yourself!”
    • “If Your Market Cares About the “Organic” Sign On the Label Its Worth it. If Your Using 100% Organic Viticulture and You Don’t Care the the Bureaucracy Then Its Not worst it.”
  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?  “If a Wine Maker Follows Organic or Bio-Dynamic Principles But Doesn’t Get Certified is That Producer Organic or Bio-Dynamic?”
    • “In Order to be Organic or Bio-Dynamic the Grape Grower or Wine Producer Must be Certified by a Reputable Organization. That Being of Said, Certification is a Piece of Paper, There are Many Growers and Producers Who Don’t Pay Money Annually to Get Certified But Do Everything That’s Required.”

“Generally the Only Difference Between Organic and Bio-Dynamic Viticulture is the Use of the 9 Bio-Dynamic Preparations.”

The ART Of PRACTICING ORGANIC/ BIO-DYNAMIC VITICULTURE

  • Saying That You’re Going to Practice of Be an Organic / Bio-Dynamic Grape Grower is One Thing, Doing is an Entirely Different Thing.  This is All Good and Fine Until I Get a Viticultural Challenge That I Can Not Handle.
  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?  “What’s Better, Saying You’re Organic and Practicing Organic Viticulture or Receiving a Crop at the Harvest at the End of Your Vintage?”
    • “Being and Saying You’re Organic is Great But What if a Viticulture Challenge Come Up and the Only Way to Save Your Vineyard and Get Grapes and the End of Your Vintage is to Do a Proceedure and Will Make Your Vineyard Non-Organic.  Do You Do the Procedure and Get Grapes From Your Harvest or Stay Organic and Lose Your Crop.?”

**Refer to “VITICULTURE/ Sustainable Wine” For Additional Information.

**Refer to “VITICULTURE/ Bio-Dynamic Wine” For Additional Information.

**Refer to “BIBLIOGRAPHY/ Sources” For Details On Scholarly Works Referenced.