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 A quick primer on organic wines under the new USDA National Organic Program. First, we would like to thank you for finding shelf space for Organic and Organically grown wines. This segment has long been the Rodney Dangerfield of the wine world and while Trader Joes is not the first store chain to recognize the demand, they are the largest to date. The new federal law kicked in on October 2002 and required the vineyard and winery producing the wine to be certified organic by a federally recognized certifier. While there are a number of approved treatments and sprays that can be used in the vineyard, it still comes down to growing healthy plants that naturally resist disease and support a balanced but non-threatening insect population. An equal number of bugs must wear white hats as black hats. In the winery is where the difference between Organic Wine and Wine Made with Organically Grown Grapes is determined. Due to the US govt. requirement of the late ‘80s to note “Contains Sulfites,’ occasionally this has become the touch stone of processing to determine what is organic and what isn’t. To carry the Organic Wine designation the wine must have no sulfites added and have less than 10 parts per million naturally occurring. Occasionally a wine made without sulfites has “none detectable” at the parts per million level and must carry the Sulfite Free wording, or make no mention at all. In Europe they never had to label for sulfites used in production so it is not an issue overseas and hence has never spawned the interest in winemakers to make good wines without preservatives. You can pretty much assume all European wines have sulfites added. Thus they join Bonterra and others as “wine made with organically grown grapes”. For more information on what can and cannot be used in organic grape and wine production, go to the source at http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop. Or for more specific questions email us at bonvino@jps.net or ddberdahl@aol.com. Tony Norskog, Winemaker/Partner |
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