Healthier Wine Series Part 3: Organic

The third in a series on eco-friendly farming and winemaking practices. This time we look at the practices of Organic Farming.

Like Sustainable farmers, organic farmers strive to conserve soil and water and use renewable resources. In addition, organic standards prohibit the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, as well as chemical or sewage based fertilizers on or around crops. Growers can use approved substances to fight vine maladies. For example sulfur is allowed to fight mildew. Genetically engineered crops are also prohibited. Organic can also apply to winemaking itself. Often the most well known of the eco-friendly farming practices, the organic designation isn’t greener than sustainable or biodynamic. In the organic rules written by the U.S. government there are no requirements for using recycled glass or biodegradable packing.

A USDA accredited certifying agency must inspect the property and the vineyard must go three years without synthetic chemicals, and detailed records must be kept of all treatments. Subsequence inspections are yearly. Of the nearly 100 approved domestic and foreign certifiers the ones most commonly used in the U.S. are; California Certified Organic Farmers, Oregon Tilth, and Stellar Certification Services.

These wines may be labeled “organic” if the grapes are grown organically and the winemaking facility is also certified organic. The wines must contain at least 95% organic ingredients. No sulfites may be added as a preservative during the production, and the finished wine must contain less than 10 parts per million of sulfites. Alternate labels include “made with organic grapes” or “made with organically grown grapes”. These categories allow the addition of sulfites, but still may not exceed 100 parts per million in the finished wine. If the wine contains less than 70% organic grapes the word “organic” cannot be used.

Organic wineries include: Quivira, Benzinger, Bonterra, Daivid Bynum, Graziano, Frey, Frog’s Leap,

For more information please visit:
California Certified Organic Farmers
Oregon Tilth
Stellar Certification Services

Thad Norlinger
-Cellars Wines & Spirits