All of us on this planet are becoming increasingly aware of our fragile environment, what is happening to eco-systems and what is happening to our health. There are grass roots organizations, and even government agencies, devoted to educating us about conservation resources and promoting better environmental practices for large corporations. A lecture we attended last year, under the auspices of the Conservatory of Flowers, pointed out how important it is for every person to conserve, reuse and recycle materials. Our daily choices matter in determining the state of our lives, and we want them to be the best.
By Dianne Boate and Robert Meyer
Published: February, 2006
All of us on this planet are becoming increasingly aware of our fragile environment, what is happening to eco-systems and what is happening to our health. There are grass roots organizations, and even government agencies, devoted to educating us about conservation resources and promoting better environmental practices for large corporations. A lecture we attended last year, under the auspices of the Conservatory of Flowers, pointed out how important it is for every person to conserve, reuse and recycle materials. Our daily choices matter in determining the state of our lives, and we want them to be the best.
Now, we are learning that the vast world of winegrowing and winemaking has bent its head in contemplation, study and practice to create a brave new world of wines called organic. The term organic has been around for some time. By now, we are used to thinking of it in relation to produce in health stores and farmer’s markets, but not so much in relation to the wine we buy.
Our search online for information about organic wine led us to about 7,960,000 search result entries. The enormity of the subject became obvious. There are a range of opinions about the subject, and a lot of people are waving all kinds of flags.
The Organic Consumers Organization’s website defines organic as, a term given to environmentally friendly methods [of growing and food production] that use no chemicals or pesticides. But, we began to sense that the term organic could be used for the purpose of marketing rather than pure, biodynamic conviction.
We contacted the Wine Institute to see what they had to say and their communications manager, Gladys Horiuchi, replied with a few points about what is certified organic and a bit about California winegrowers and sustainability:
Note that many vintners farm organically, and get certification, but do not necessarily label their bottles as such. They may be doing it for other reasons, such as preservation of the land and safety of workers. It may also not be their marketing niche, or those wines are being blended with traditionally made wine. Others may not want their hands tied in order to deal with some viticultural issue, such as a very rainy season that may bring on mildew, or something like that. Others feel soft chemicals for weed control are better than weed cultivation that may be hard on labor, tractoring that may compact soil too much, as well as use of fuels that contribute to air emissions.
California’s winegrowing community does have an environmental bent, and a major sustainable winegrowing program has been established by Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers. The program is supporting the industry’s effort to document and expand environmentally friendly and socially responsible farming. Its 490-page best practices manual has been distributed to 3,000 industry people, and our first sustainability report documents the industry’s efforts in this very important area (http://www.sustainablewinegrowing.org/).
Next, our intrepid sleuth, Dianne, went undisguised into a good-sized San Francisco wine shop in the Richmond district of San Francisco to inquire about organic wines. She found no information in the store, only that some were sold, but there were no plans at the moment for more.
Next, she went over one block to Thom’s Natural Foods on Geary Blvd. — lots of organic wine, and a handsome display. Thom’s carries some leading California organic producers like Lolonis and Frey, some French and some Italian. Dianne inquired about the amount of sales. The answer… slowly climbing.
Where is it all going? We all know our appreciation of wine and food is highly subjective to taste, and taste is a great factor in which bottle of wine you buy. However, organically speaking, we all need to pay attention, to study the sources of information and talk to people in the business. Try out some new things, because in the end, we must decide for ourselves what is good.
The January issue of K & L Wine News had some good organic wine recommendations, reasonably priced. We say, better go buy a few, invite your friends over and do a brown bag, blind tasting.
Dianne Boate is a San Francisco based writer, photographer and budding botanical illustrator. Robert Meyer is a consultant to the wine and spirits industry. This month we say a sad farewell to a longtime non-drinking companion, MaxCat. He always joined us for the cocktail hour and learned the opening of a champagne bottle had nothing to do with him, as Robert, once again, would bounce the cork off the ceiling.
If you do an organic wine blind tasting, we’d like to know which ones were your favorites. Why not drop us a line? Send an email to: editor@baycrossings.com
