Organic/Biodynamic Wines
Wine, one of my favorite topics
The wine I tried this weekend, an organic 2006 Chenin Blanc from La Rocca Vineyards.
Yesterday, I went to the Home Economist Market, a “health & specialty foods” grocery store here in Charlotte, in an attempt to explore what kind of environmentally friendly food options were out there. Inside, there was a nice woman giving out samples of wine and saki (score!) and giving customers brief backgrounds of what they were trying. In between samples of plum wine and banana saki (had I died and gone to heaven?), I asked the sample lady about organic wines. It turned out she actually represented an organic wine company, and she eventually convinced me to buy one of the organic wines (she had me at “hello”) they carried at the store. My curiosity about “green” wines piqued, I decided to do some research.
Organic wines are made from grapes that are grown without the use of any synthetic chemicals, such as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or synthetic fertilizers. This not only keeps unnatural chemicals out of the grapes and, ultimately, your wine, but it also keeps them out of the local soil and water, reducing the negative impact on the environment. For a wine to be considered organic, it also must not have any sulfites (sulfur dioxide) added. Sulfites are a by-product of the fermentation process that prevent wine spoilage and bacteria contamination. Although sulfites occur naturally in all wines, a wine can only be considered organic if the number of naturally occurring sulfites in the wine is less than 100 parts per million. Once a vineyard adopts organic practices, it must maintain them for three years before it can officially be certified as an organic vineyard.
If buying organic isn’t enough for the really hardcore greenies out there, you can take it a step further and go with biodynamic. Like organic vineyards, a biodynamic vineyard uses no unnatural chemicals and doesn’t add sulfites to its wine, but it also focuses on creating a self-sufficient, sustainable ecosystem. Biodynamic farmers treat their vineyards as unified and individual organisms, emphasizing the natural development and interrelationship of the soil, plants, and animals as a closed, self-nourishing system. Biodynamic vineyards normally integrate crops and livestock, recycled nutrients, and soil maintenance. This method of growing grapes is more natural, promotes local biodiversity, and has an even smaller impact on the environment. Some even believe that biodynamic wines are higher quality, better tasting, and more flavorful, but you be the judge.
As for the organic wine I bought at Home Economist Market…it was OK. It was a 2006 Chenin Blanc from La Rocca Vineyards in California. I didn’t love it, but I drank it anyway, because what’s better than drinking wine and helping the environment at the same time? Not much.
I’ll be trying all kinds of organic and biodynamic wines in the near future and I’ll post my amateur thoughts on Green Light Reflections, just in case you’re thinking of trying out some environmentally friendly wine as well and could use some suggestions. If you run across any great organic wines yourself, let me know.
