Organic Wines

Organic Wines

With so many people becoming health conscious these days’ people are looking closer to what is in the product by reading the label. More and more products are being made with less fillers and more organically. Even your pet’s food is following suite. Wine is no different, as matter of fact, some wine has been produced for hundreds of years organically.

By Art LiPuma, General Manager SeaSide Wine & Spirits, Old Saybrook, CT

From the 1920’s to recent day there has been more grapes grown with organic methods, especially in Europe (France, Spain, Italy, Germany). Many wineries tend not to label their wines as certified organic due to the high fees they have to pay for the certification. There are a lot of rules that have to be followed for a wine to be certified organic.

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similar agents. Once they settle to the bottom of the tank, the wine is then siphoned from the rest from the barrel. The pulp that remains on the bottom is then discarded.

Organic wines do not have the addition of sulfur dioxide during fermentation and the vineyards do not use pesticides or any chemicals growing or cultivating the vines. The grapes are handpicked to avoid using any machinery for harvesting., The left over wine waste is also used for compost in the vineyards. They refer to this as sustainable farming practice.

Vegan wines use Bentonite for the agent in fining wines, however, egg whites and albumin are expectable for most Vegans. Other criteria used for Vegan wines are the non use of animal by products in the making of the wine. Some wineries are now labeling their wines that qualify as Vegan. The big question… does organic wines taste any different than non organic ones? The answer is no. As previously mentioned there are several hundreds of vineyards that are organic that don’t advertise as being so, meaning that sometimes you don’t even know your drinking an organic wine. Many wine retailers now have an organic section from around the world.

Biodynamic practices allow the grapes to grow in their natural state without the addition of chemicals, malolactic bacteria or cultured yeast. Even though neither style adds sulfites, they are found naturally in the earth; hence they are naturally occurring in grapes and other fruits. Sulfites are measured in parts per million (ppm). There are guidelines for the quantity of sulfites that can be found in organic wines, which is under 10 ppm of natural occurring sulfites. Sulfur is used also as an additive in wine making by burning it which creates sulfur dioxide. This compound is used as a preservative in wine making, but is considered synthetic. The required added level of sulfites needs to be under 100 ppm for biodynamic wines.

Sulfites are blamed for many reactions in drinking wine including: headaches, stuffy head and dry mouth but this is not all caused by added sulfites. They are more likely caused by the histamines, tannins and of course the alcohol in the wine. A few of the major concerns of using added sulfites in wines or other foods are the reactions that they can cause. Hives, redness, upset stomach, drop in blood pressure, dizziness, trouble swallowing and trouble breathing are some of these. (this only effects only a very small amount of people).

Due to the fact that some of these reactions can be life threatening, in 1986 the United States signed a law that all wine sold in the county had to be labeled with a government warning label if the wine contains sulfites over 10ppm. By 1988 the labels were on all wine bottles sold in the U.S.

Here at Seaside Wine we are dedicating our wine tastings in the month of May to organic wines every Saturday from 2:30 to 5:30. So come and join us.

Cheers!

Art LiPuma, General Manager at SeaSide Wine & Spirits 118 Main St, Old Saybrook, Connecticut www.seasidewineandspirits.com

Finning agents in wine are used to fine, stabilize and clarify. They are added in the tank or barrel during fermentation. The agents that are usually used are egg whites, milk proteins and other