Organic winemaking is here to stay

Seeing as I am on this sulfite free bent, I found this abit interesting seeing as the commercial market is also going that way. If anyone has any experience in organic / sulphite free wine making process feel free to share your experiences and comments here.
I know there are issues with preserving and so forth, I will be trying pasturization (Heating) to kill all the yeasty beasties.

Cheers,

Heinz

By Michael Gianunzio
Herald Columnist

Every day in America consumers are inundated by the promotion of "green" and "organic" products. To have an "eco-friendly lifestyle" we must buy green, eat green, vote green, live green, build green and even travel green.

What could be more green or organic than growing grapes and making wine?

In reality, growing grapes and making wine have some impacts on Mother Earth.

Eight gallons of water are needed to make one gallon of wine.

Soil erosion from vineyards and access roads around them may affect streams.

Pesticides and fungicides used on grape vines can sometimes get into groundwater and contaminate it. Vineyard workers may be exposed to these chemicals, if they are not protected.

Wineries are working hard to address these concerns.

There is a serious movement in the American wine business, albeit fairly modest at the moment, to produce truly organic wine. A "natural viticulture" is already emerging, especially in the Western states.

What does it mean to be an organic wine? Is it just some Wall Street ad agency version of "greenwashing," the buzzword for overstating the environmental benefits of a product for marketing purposes?

A trip to Sonoma County, Calif., wineries convinced me that organic wine making is a real phenomenon.

For some winemakers, it is a spiritual journey that involves using renewable resources to reinvigorate the soil they cultivate. There is an effort to go back to practices common a century or more ago of giving back to the land when we harvest grapes and make wine.

To be labeled organic, under U.S. Department of Agriculture standards today, a wine must be made with grapes from a certified organic vineyard, in a winery that is also certified as organic.

To achieve this status, a vineyard must operate for three years without synthetic chemicals.

The wine produced must contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients.

And sulfite can't be added as a preservative during production. That's a tough standard because sulfites are usually added in minute quantities to preserve wine and allow it to age gracefully over many years.

At the Benziger Family Winery in Sonoma, I rode on a biodiesel-powered tram and toured their lush organic vineyards. An assortment of ground cover, such as mustard plants, tuned to select types of grape vines, helps replenish the soil.

The Benzigers understand how insects, birds, plants, animals and microorganisms can be put in the right microenvironments to grow their grapes, keep the soil moist and return nutrients to the earth without chemical fertilizers.

In some vineyards, cows and sheep mow down ground cover where tractors once tread.

The result at Benziger Family Winery, Fetzer Vineyards, Frey Vineyards and many other organic wineries in California, Oregon and Washington, is great wine, coming from practices that are sustainable, ecologically sound, financially viable and socially responsible.

You will be hearing more about organic vineyards and wines.

In our state, the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers has published a sustainability guide, Vinewise; see www.vinewise.org. Many wineries are signing on to these practices, including Woodward Canyon, Seven Hills and Pepper Bridge.

Eco-friendly wineries may advertise that they use sustainable practices: They recycle, conserve energy and water, and minimize the use of chemicals, plant cover crops and use compost and renewable resources where possible.

Cayuse Winery in Walla Walla has reached the level of producing a certified biodynamic wine, above and beyond organic status. It is in an elite group of wineries in America who have eliminated chemicals, and like homeopathic medicine, the wine estate is treated like a self-sustaining organism.

Certification comes from an international entity called the Demeter Association. Everything in the biodynamic vineyard is interrelated and recycled.

Only indigenous yeast is used in fermentation. There is a spiritual connection between the land and the wine produced.

Closer to home, Lopez Island Vineyards is both a certified organic grape grower and an organic processor, the first winery to get this designation in Western Washington.

It may seem mystical, but this is all about ecological balance a great step in a good direction.

To some vintners, there are subtle enhanced differences in the quality of organic wines, a measure that is difficult to quantify.

These wines are more expensive to make and have higher retail prices. But, to focus on creating sustainable ecosystems in our nation's vineyards is a worthy cause for the environment and for our collective soul.

Michael "Gino" Gianunzio is a local lawyer, winemaker and artist who lives on Camano Island. He can be reached at theislanditalian@yahoo.com

Organics sampler

Here are some American organic wines to try:

Bonterra Vineyards Mendocino County Syrah and Chardonnay (www.bonterra.com)

Benziger Family Vineyards wines (www.benziger.com)

Frey Vineyards Petite Syrah (www.freywine.com)

Willakenzie Estate Pinot Gris (www.willakenzie.com)

Ponzi Pinot Noir Willamette Valley (www.ponziwines.com)

Cayuse Syrah Walla Walla Valley Bionic Frog (www.cayusevineyards.com)

Badger Mountain Vineyard wines (www.badgermtnvineyard.com)

Cooper Mountain Vineyards Pinot Noir (www.coopermountainwine.com)


© 2007The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA
Labels: natural wine, organic wine, sulphite free wine, wine, wine and headaches, winemaking