Thursday, March 14, 2024

Do Organically Grown Wines Need to be Labeled? Safeway's MW Says Consumers Want That | Yet 71 Percent of U.S. Wines from Organic Vines Do Not Label Organic on the Bottle (When They Legally Could)

A prominent wine buyer, Curtis Mann, MW, group vice president of alcohol for Albertsons Cos.–he buys wine for Safeway, among others, as well as for its online Vine & Ccllar store–is telling the industry it needs to help consumers better understand when their wine grapes are certified organic or biodynamic.

Many in the industry do not seem to understand that it is illegal under federal law to use the word organic unless you are legally certified. Distributors and producers commonly say their vines are "practicing organic" or just "organic."

In an article in WineBusiness.com, Mann is quoted as saying:

Producers...need to do a better job of clarifying terms such as organic and biodynamic, rather than leaving them up to interpretation. 
Much like with nutritional information, if it’s not clarified on the label, consumers will assume or be confused
Mann encouraged producers to be more aggressive with these labels and regulations, or to come up with a new way to designate organic wines, so that it’s clear to the customer what they are buying. (Italics mine). 

I couldn't agree more, except with the bit about coming up with a new way. (Note: organic and biodynamic are legal certifications and not officially open to interpretation.)

Too many times people have repeated the misinformation that sulfite caps are required for organic labeling. Or that the organic wine can't have added sulfites. Not true.

THE "NEW" OLD WAY TO LABEL WINE: USING THE  "INGREDIENTS: ORGANIC GRAPES" LABEL

There is a great way to label wine that contain only organic grapes–it's called "Ingredients: Organic Grapes"–but most wineries do not use it. 

Many do not understand that they have the option to put the words "Ingredients: organic grapes" on the back label without having to change anything about their winemaking processes.

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Let's dive in.

There are two issues here–one is certification, and the other, for those who have certified vines, is labeling.

CERTIFICATION COSTS FOR VINES: $11 An Acre in Monterey County; $40 An Acre in Napa

The industry has a long history of describing wines as "practicing organic" when grapes are not certified. The usual excuse is that it costs too much to be certified. However, most people who say that have no idea what certifying wine grapes actually costs. 

In fact, certification of vineyards alone costs about $11 an acre in Monterey County and $40 an acre in Napa, according to this 2015 article from Wines and Vines (which I wrote way back when). The rate is based on the value of the grapes. In addition the government pays up to $750 in rebates for certification fees.

So let's say wine grape prices have gone up since 2015, but by how much? If these were the costs in 2015, it shows that organic wine grape certification is not costly. 

The record-keeping that goes along with certification may be more time consuming, but veteran growers say once you have done it the first time, it is not hard to keep up. They also say the information asked for is what a good grower should be keeping track of anyway. 

Natural winemakers are often quick to say the grapes they use are organic but few use certified grapes. Some are committed to changing that, but their numbers are few and far between. 

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE CERTIFIED VINES: IS GOVERNMENT MISINFORMATION THE PROBLEM?

Could wineries be confused because the USDA itself obscures this "ingredients: Organic Grapes" information in its handouts? 

Misleading information from USDA Organic Program 

Google "ingredients: organic grapes" wine and you find this misleading pdf from the USDA

It mentions only TWO of the THREE ways organically grown wines can be labeled according to the USDA. 

Their overview speaks only to the two types of certified organically grown wines that require winery certification. These are "Organic Wine" and "Made with Organic Grapes" wines. 

Those two categories also require higher fees and stiffer regulations, requiring both the winery and any additives to meet certification rules.  

Here is another top search result (from albeit from 2013), also from the USDA. 

More misleading information from USDA Organic Program 

On the Organic 101 page (which explains little about the specifics) there's a link to another page and that linked to page has no content. 

TTB Labeling for Organic Wine Categories
Example shown for "Ingredients: Organic Grapes"
displays full ingredient labeling
(which is not a USDA NOP requirement for "Ingredients: Organic Grapes")

The TTB website fares only marginally better, but is very confusing in the way it provides too many illustrations of label minutiae and not enough on farming or winemaking requirements. It is also misleading in that the one example label shows a full list of ingredients, which is not a USDA NOP guideline. 

But it's really not the TTB's job to define the requirements–that is the USDA's NOP's job–and the USDA's online site does not provide sufficient details. 

WHERE TO FIND ACCURATE INFORMATION? FROM CCOF

At least one certifier, CCOF does the job well, explaining "Ingredients: Organic Grapes" wine, providing a pithy, bulleted lists overview of the USDA NOP regulations. It does so accurately, alongside the farming and wine requirements for the two certified wine categories ("Made with Organic Grapes" and "Organic Wine")as well as the "Ingredients: Organic Grapes" category. It's easy to compare the various standards on this one page handout. 

But even the CCOF document is is slightly confusing because the "Ingredients: Organic Grapes" label can only be displayed if the contents are 100 percent from certified grapes. (If it's less than 100 percent, the percent must be displayed. However I have never encountered this on a label. I can only assume it might be more common for a food product.) 

All certifiers are licensed by the NOP and must follow the same USDA NOP regulations on wine labeling. Since CCOF certifies more wine grape vineyards organic than any other certifier in the U.S., it makes sense that they would do a good job of describing the standards. (But why doesn't the federal government?)

The key difference between the two certified wine categories and the third category of "Ingredients: Organic Grapes" is whether or not the winery is certified organic (not required under the "Ingredients: Organic Grapes") and what additives are permitted. Sulfite caps are also required for certified wines, but not for the "Ingredients: Organic Grapes" which must simply follow the same winemaking regulations as other wines. 

 (The "Ingredients: Organic Grapes" wines are not "certified wines" because they do not require the winery to be certified and do not require higher payments but they still allow wineries to say the word "organic"–but only on the back label.)

Certified wines must pay certification fees on the value of the wine. Ingredients: Organic Grape labelers pay fees only on the value of the grapes. Big difference. 

FYI: "Made with Organic Grapes" is very close to what the EU definition of Organic Wine. 


And this is it:


ONLY 71 OUT OF 1,654 WINES BOTTLE LABEL "INGREDIENTS: ORGANIC GRAPES" IN USA

A few years ago, Vivino, the world's largest wine app, licensed my database of estate wines grown from certified organic and biodynamic grapes, with the intent of publishing it in their app. Their plans changed under new management, despite their initial desire to publish it after consumer focus groups showed it was a top ask.

In my database of 1,654 wines:

• 71 were labeled "Ingredients: Organic Grapes"

• 298 were labeled "Made with Organic Grapes"

• 109 were labeled "Organic Wine"

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• 127 were labeled "Made with Biodynamic Grapes"

• 108 were labeled "Biodynamic Wine"

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That means 1,176 wines (out of 1.654) vinified only with certified organic grapes could have used the word organic on the label–but did not. That is 71 percent of wines in my U.S., organic certified vine wines database. 

(For wine uber geeks only: I did not include single vineyard wines from wineries who purchased organic or biodynamic grapes from a named certified organic or biodynamic vineyard–only wines from wineries with certified organic estates were included.)

Note: In using the "Ingredients: Organic Grapes" category, under a USDA NOP regulation, it is not then necessary to list all the ingredients. 

Wineries with certified organic vineyards who do use "Ingredients: Organic Grapes"  language and labeling on the back of the bottle are:

NAPA 

• Beaucanon Estate (which also lists ingredients)

• Elizabeth Rose (Napa Wine Co.)

• Ghost Block (Napa Wine Co.)

• Oakville Winery (Napa Wine Co.)

• Volker Eisele (on applicable bottles)

SONOMA

• Canihan 

• Crazy Flower in Napa and Sonoma

SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS

• Silver Mountain (on applicable bottles) in Santa Cruz Mountains 

OREGON

• Croft 

CALIFORNIA 

• Ridge (on applicable bottles) (also lists ingredients)

A THIRD HURDLE: TTB LABELING APPROVAL

I have heard it countless times: "Our grapes are certified but the TTB won't let us label "Ingredients: Organic Grapes" on the back label even though our certifier says we should be able to."

Amigo Bob, the great organic leader who founded CCOF and EcoFarm, said he heard from many wine producers over the years that it really depended on who at TTB was handling your label approval. 

Speaking at the TTB hearing online last week, consultant Jemma Jorel Lester, of San Francisco based Proper Pour Co., voiced similar complaints about inconsistencies regarding label approvals. "I get varied responses back even on a very consistent set of labels,” she said, adding that getting a label approved for an orange wine (not made from oranges) was denied. 

Colleen Willams (Seps) from Storybook Mountain Vineyards in Napa has been labeling her wines with "Ingredients: Organic Grapes" on the back label (where regulations permit it) for years but says each year she has to educate the TTB person reviewing her labels about the category, showing them the regulations.

How does this get corrected? Is it time to contact the TTB? (Maybe try the Organic Trade Association? https://www.ota.com/contact-ota)

THE FOURTH HURDLE: WINE EDUCATORS, WSET PROGRAMS, MASTERS OF WINE AND MASTER SOMMELIERS

How many wine professionals are taught organic and biodynamic wine certifications? 

Course after course, teachers present the labels, which detail so many attributes of the wine's origins, but I have never seen one dive into organic and biodynamic labeling and certification or at least not accurately. 

Let's hope it's just a curious circumstance that has only happened to me, but I would say it is pretty much the norm. The amount of misinformation I see–even printed in 2023 books from world famous authors (I'm not naming names)–is common. One new mega volume even said organic wine could not contain added sulfites. (Very old trope–and inaccurate). 

If this information is not in your wine professional certification program or curriculum, please update your curriculum. These are facts that every wine professional should know. 

Wouldn't it be nice to give consumers the information they're looking for?

And producers, if you're not certified but say you farm organically, please reconsider. Your public is waiting. You could win brownie points for certification. Especially with Millenials, Gen Z, etc. as well as most medical professionals (who often do care about pesticide free farming). Stand out for all the good reasons. Proclaim your virtue.

Friday, March 1, 2024

March is Women's History Month! Celebrate Paradigm, An Under the Radar Napa Classic: Marilyn Harris on the History of Napa Valley (Podcast)



To say that Marilyn Harris and her husband Ren Harris are deeply embedded in Napa wine history would be an understatement. 

Celebrate Women's History Month!

In 1898 Marilyn's ancestors came to Calistoga in a vineyard, farming with a horse and plow. In Depression in 1936, her parents (the Pelissa's) bought a large property in Yountville and Oakville where they farmed plums and more. Born in 1942, she grew up as a country girl in Yountville. They saw what happened to ag in San Jose and grew alarmed. The Ag Preserve was their answer. 

Ren and Marilyn: Married 59 Years

Hear this fascinating history of Napa Valley and its wine history from Marilyn, who's lived it all.  

Listen here: Podcast.

But wait - there's more: Visit Marilyn and Ren's fabulous Paradigm Winery–certified organic vineyards, 100 percent estate–to taste their superlative wines. Where else can you get a Heidi Barrett made (with Mark Fasi), terroir driven, Oakville wine for under $100? But the price is not the most salient point. This is a true hidden gem in Napa Valley. 

As one of Napa's most famous winemakers, Barrett is one more reason to celebrate Women's History Month!




Marilyn and Ren in 2023

PS Paradigm is also one of the great wineries in Slow Wine Guide USA. We awarded them Slow Wine's most prestigious award - the SNAIL. 

The winery also belongs to 1 Percent for the Planet.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

News from Slow Wine Fair 2024: "Chianti Classico Now More Than 50 Percent Organic'

Slow Wine Fair features more organic producers every year. Enjoy these remarks from FederBio's president, Maria Grazia Mammuccini on the progress and strategy underlying organic viticulture. 

Read more from her Slow Wine Fair interview here

“In the last 10 years, organic vineyard surface area has increased by 145%,” emphasizes Maria Grazia Mammuccini, President of FederBio. “Organic viticulture covers an area of almost 136,000 hectares, 19% of the entire national vineyard area, with peaks reaching 38% in some highly suited regions such as Tuscany, where in Chianti Classico, organic vineyards now exceed 50% of the total. 

Organic viticulture is an excellent example of resilience and adaptation to the climate crisis, which simultaneously contributes to preserving soil fertility and ecosystems. It represents a virtuous model capable of combining the value of the territorial identity of our country’s designations of origin with that of organic sustainability.”

“At Slow Wine Fair, which consolidates our partnership with Slow Food and BolognaFiere, we have organized an event dedicated to organic viticulture as a production method to address climate impacts. During this event, we will present concrete examples of biodiversity monitoring and soil quality. These examples allow us to design an agronomic strategy to create a ‘vineyard system’ capable of responding to climatic shocks. This allows us to adopt innovative solutions based on agroecology that are capable of increasing the resilience of plants in their environment.

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Thank you to our READERS! Just Reached 1 Million Page Views!

 


When I started this blog, back in May of 2011, I did so after a career in health information and specifically as editor in chief of DNA.com, working on cancer genetics with hot shot scientists from blue chip institutions. A company founded to search for new genetic tests, it was the brainchild of Jim Clark, an A List venture capital maverick. DNA Sciences was funded and created to marry the Human Genome Project and the internet. The first day I arrived, the company was on the front page of the New York Times. High profile. 

Clark had earlier started WebMD (as well as Netscape), so I became the editor of all things genetic health on WebMD as well as DNA.com, where we had a deep bench of amazing scientists on staff as well as colleagues from many prestigious institutions. For example, DNA discoverer James Watson was on the board. No pressure, Pam, LOL. 

In my work there, I wrote cheatsheets for doctors, worked with the American Medical Associations genetics leaders, and launched online radio shows with celebrated experts. 
Experts told me, "Genetics aren't the main engine of cancer; non-genetic factors, including the environment, are."

So when that editorial position ended (in the mayhem so typical of Silicon Valley ventures), I started to look around for what was next. 

A trip to Napa with a friend who lived in Calistoga at the time led to interest in wine. 

Morning coffee with cancer research friends from Commonweal let to my discovery of the Pesticide Use Report, which transfixed me. It was like a secret X-Ray into the soul of wine country, a soul that was pretty dark at that time. Regenerative ag was not yet a thing. And Roundup was not yet in the vocabulary of wine writers.

I remember meeting many WSET types, who reminded me of my art history classes in college. Learn about 50-100 adjectives, and repeat. I never met anyone who had heard of glyphosate or who read the Pesticide Use Report (PUR). (I recommend revising the WSET courses and MW and MS tests to remedy that gap.)

Back then I was enamored of Huey Johnson, a "green plans" environmental leader, and when I learned his former staffer was working on making the wine industry more sustainable, I wanted to know more. 

I went on a tour at a winery owned by a Napa Green president, where I was told of bird boxes and other green initiatives. 

Imagine my disappointment when I looked that winery up on the PUR and saw it used bird and bee neurotoxins. I had help from a wonderful scientist, Susan Kegley (who was chief scientist for Pesticide Action Network at the time), who generously identified the chemicals of concern in Napa and Sonoma and further afield. She even took me to a high level PUR meeting in Sacramento where power users conferred with the PUR database guardians to improve features. 

I spent countless hours on OMRI, learning which of the lovely chemical products were approved for organic use and which were not. 

I am grateful for teachers like Susan. 

Another person who was a great help to me was Volker Eisele, proclaimed as the "lion of land preservation," and featured in James Conaway's Napa books. 

I was delighted to see Jack Davies in the first of Conaway's trilogy (link to second book here). Davies was my father's roommate at Harvard Business School way back when. 

I learned more about deeper environmental history roots and the history of the ag preserve. 

It seemed odd to me that people in the wine industry looked upon organic viticulture as a surefire way to lose money. The more I looked into it, I dropped my "Debbie Downer" phase (so many pesticides!) and saw other wineries doing great work, winning above average awards and scores and succeeding in their businesses. It was a curious gap in perceptions. 

As I dug into what was happening in the wine industry, I felt there needed to be a newsy site to track the names of people doing good work under organic certification and to give voice to these wineries who didn't seem to have any association or organization. (They still don't in the U.S.) It's been quite an education–and involved a lot of wine education and wine drinking and new friends and colleagues. It also coincides with the pleasure of tracking improvements in the industry. As well as the greater impacts of climate change. 

When I think back on 12 years of writing in this blog, I am amazed at the distance we've come. The world is indeed changing. The wheel is turning. That's a good thing...and something to celebrate. 

Thanks for all the clicks.

And for all those wineries doing great work promoting soil health and employee health – A Great Big Thanks. 

May it continue.

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Napa Powerhouses V. Sattui and Castello di Amorosa Both Go Organic on Their 350 Acres of Estate Vines

 

After 43 years of business in Napa, Dario Sattui and Tom Davies, winery president, made their move to organics on all 350 acres of estate vines. They grow 26 varieties in four counties. 

Everything is sold direct to consumer, and they're proud to announce to all their customers that they've gone organic.

They got climate change religion, too, after hearing a U.C. Berkeley business school professor explain carbon to them and now offer their employees money to carpool to work. Among other things. 

Read the article in the current issue of Grape and Wine magazine.

Monday, February 12, 2024

The Bordeaux Club's Classy Gents in New Academie du Vin Book: Could These Old School Influencers Become the Next Masterpiece Theater PBS Series?


The Sanctum Sanctorium of the Classy Gents

As the wine loving historian Andrew Roberts (not a club member) writes in his introduction, "Imagine a fictional claret society, in which six distinguished Englishmen meet thricely in black tie at their stately homes, 18th century London clubs or Oxbridge master's lodges, in order to drink, discuss and rate the greatest wines ever produced."

Now, thanks to Neil McKendrick, Hugh Johnson and the Academie du Vin Library, you can visit the inner sanctum sanctorium of seven of wine's most highly esteemed Classy Gents in a new book The Bordeaux Club: The Seventy Year Story of Great Wines and the Friends Who Shared Them.

Meeting thrice a year in luxurious settings–Hugh Johnson's garden, where they sip Champagne by his apple orchard, at Oxford's prestigious halls, or in wine merchant's splendors–they sample the best of what the post World War II era had to offer, spanning the years from 1949-2019 when close to the last of their breed had died out.  
 
Roberts tells us "...each member competes subtly to serve better food and wine than his five fellows." 

He also says, "Associations and societies such as the Bordeaux Club are the very acme of civilization." Hyperbole? Perhaps. (It says something that only Bordeaux is in scope, for the club, an historical fact that shows how much the world of wine has changed.)

While these stories offer their own unique pleasures, they also shed light on the history of Napa and the direction our local wine industry–spanning from low wine to high wine culture–chose to go. 

Napa-Bordeaux Connection

Napa went from jug wine coop for Gallo's Hearty Burgundy to wealthy wine enclave and boomtown, a la a mini-Medoc. The reason is connected to these influencers of the post War era. I call them the Classy Gents and you'll recognize them at once. 

They're not Robert Mondavi, raised in an Italian immigrant family in Lodi, seeing the prices for Bordeaux wines. But after seeing Bordeaux's economic success, it's no wonder he led the Napa region to commercial and wine success by aping, mimicking and in some cases surpassing (or at least partnering with) the favorite wine of Classy Gents–Bordeaux First Growths–when he launched Opus One, a co-brand with a First Growth–Lafite. 

Due in part to England's global wine trade and its long ties to Bordeaux in history (as well as geographic proximity), Bordeaux–and the grape varieties it grows–have been elevated to top dog in world wine prices (until recent decades) as well as dominant grape variety status. Cabernet is a bet Napa made–and won.

The English authors, merchants, upper class and businessmen so aligned with Bordeaux–and the prices it commanded–indirectly led to Napa's reinvention of itself as a satellite of Bordeaux, catering to marketing for both affluent lifestyles and elitist wine for the wealthy. (Proximity to wealthy San Francisco and Silicon Valley helped).

It also affected everything in California from the fine wine market–including our internationally celebrated Ridge Vineyard–to the cheapest wine grape vineyards. A fifth of California's vineyards are planted to Cabernet. So the book is highly relevant to our local scene. 

Napa could not command the tasting fees and wine prices it currently does were it not for the Classy Gents and their Bordeaux precedent. 

In 2022, Napa's wine growers produced close to a billion dollars worth of grapes, with Cabernet leading in price per ton at $8,819. French wine professors leading Napa tours for their business school students are astounded by Harlan's Promontory prices–$1,200 for a 2018.

And today you can find Napa wines for sale–Inglenook, Favia, Promontory–at the prestigious La Place de Bordeaux alongside LaTour, et al. 

An Intimate Peek

But enough about class and economics. Let's get to the story and the deliciously rendered hedonism, please.

The volume is a hefty, condensed brick of a book (2.4 pounds, 383 pages) featuring some of wine's most eminent personalities–Hugh Johnson, the notorious historian John Plumb, Michael Broadbent, Simon Berry (yes, of THE Berry Brothers), and Steven Spurrier (of the Tasting of Paris fame, the 1976 contest that brought Napa wines to the world stage). It is rich in content. 

Author and historian Neil McKendrick, once a student of Plumb's, is the club member who took notes for the club which now form the basic backbone of this book–that historical archive will please Bordeaux collectors–along with biosketches of the more illustrious and newsworthy members. Menus of their meals are included along with photos that make their world come to life. 

McKendrick is a good writer, starting off the chapter of the history of the club with, "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a wine in possession of a good reputation must be in need of a club." 

Furthermore he writes, wine collectors have wine cellars full of treasures to be shared. A club must be fun, too, he says.

He writes, "It greatly helps if they (the club members) are colorful, distinguished and interesting characters–and no one can doubt that the Bordeaux Club members were an arrestingly (in some cases alarmingly) colorful crew.They make for very good copy."

I agree, and thanks to McKendrick, the book is very good copy indeed. There are no technical notes on the wines, with the emphasis on a well rounded picture of the people, places and pleasures. 

In my mind, it seems likely that some U.K. production company might see this club as the perfect subject for a new Masterpiece TV series, don't you think? It's got all the right stuff.

Thanks to McKendrick, now almost 90, for a shining a light on the pleasures of wine among friends and for sharing it more broadly with us. 

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Slow Wine USA Guide Book Party Featured in Somm Journal!

Thanks SOMM Journal for this fabulous coverage of our book launch party in December.


Read the whole article about the book launch party here


New Porto Protocol Video Launches - International in Scope

Of all the international sustainability groups that I have come across, the one I admire most is Porto Protocol, which, in my mind, is kind of like Wikipedia for winegrowers and climate change. It's more of a neighbor to neighbor approach and does not require participants to pay a membership fee. It's focused more on a peer to peer dynamic. 

It has frequent webinars with practicing experts from around the world, comparing notes on its You Tube channel. 

It's now come out with a new 41 min. video (just the thing to watch on nights when California is being drenched yet again with another atmospheric river) which you can watch here.

Thursday, February 1, 2024

Biodiversity Winners Honored at Millésime Bio's Vitis Bio Competition



The organic wine magazine VitisBio and Millésime launched a biodiversity competition for organic wineries. 

The group wrote, "To participate, winegrowers must be certified organic, exhibitors at the Millésime Bio show on January 29, 30 and 31, 2024 and justify, through a complete form, their actions on their estate for the benefit of biodiversity. 

They are thus questioned about their approaches in favor of grassy areas (inter-rows, headlands, embankments, fallows, etc.), hedges and wooded areas, other habitats such as ponds, low walls, scree slopes, hollow trees, shelters and shelters installed for wildlife. 
Another point investigated, their choices linked to the diversity at the estate: size of the plot, various grape varieties, productions other than vines, animals in the vineyard, but also the limitation of phytosanitary products…"

116 applications were submitted.

The jury was made up of the Vitisbio editorial team, managers of Millésime Bio, two wine merchants from the Federation of Independent Wine Merchants and biodiversity experts from the LPO and the Hérault Chamber of Agriculture.

Around 30 nominees were selected.

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Update from the World's Largest Organic Wine Fair: Millésime Celebrating Its 31st Anniversary

Held in Montpelier this year, its usual location, the largest organic wine fair in the world was a success yet again as the market for organic drinks across different alcoholic beverage types expands.

Here's what the group posted on its LinkedIn page today:

"Despite the agricultural movement, visitors were there with nearly 10,000 visits in three days...

2024 was a great edition that demonstrates the dynamics of the show with new features such as a common area for organic alcohols, spaces in the wine library for biodynamic wines and bulk wines or the "Biodiversity, it's my domain!" competition which rewarded 9 winegrowers who had implemented an approach aimed at strengthening the resilience of ecosystems..." 

Jeanne Fabre, President of SudVinBio's Organic Millésime Commission

Having just attended the vineyards and biodiversity conference in Avignon, sponsored by OIV, I look forward to sharing more of the biodiversity efforts going on in the EU.

Bravo to Millésime for carrying the flag forward and educating buyers about the importance of good farming practices for the health of all.

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

GunBun Drops New Video on its Regenerative Organic Certification

Telling the story is important. And you can so feel the difference here in this video between a family owned winery and one owned by a corporation. 


Thank you, GunBun, for including your vineyard manager, too!

Saturday, January 6, 2024

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Approach at Chateau Galoupet

As I get ready to head to Avignon for the second Vineyards and Biodiversity conference Jan 18-19, thoughts of the first one are running through my head. At that time, Mathieu Meyer, Estate Director of Château Galoupet, presented what their impressive team of scientists and viticulturists are doing to restore native ecology on the estate, which is dedicated to (organic) rosé.

You can see how far they've come today here:


For more info, visit their site.

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Author Picks: Favorites I Wrote About for Wine Business in 2023

Here are some of my favorite stories from the year that was–they were stories that I learned the most from researching and writing or that reflected BIG trends in the wine industry. 

Napa Valley Grape Growers Cut Roundup Use in Half, Evaluate Weed Control Strategies Amidst Shifting Consumer and Community Opinions

Who knew (until the Napa Valley Grapegrowers' data analyst presented the numbers) that the county's growers had cut their Roundup use in half in the last five years. 


The Wine Industry Financial Symposium each year presents an outstanding program of business-oriented topics and this was one of the best of the 2023 event. There is hope –and action–by telling your story. I was impressed by what local agents are doing to persuade insurers to rethink the numbers.

Supermarket Giants Safeway and Albertsons Enter the World of Online Fine Wine with Direct Shipping

For most people, the supermarket IS their wine store, so how exciting to see the megachain taking its wine marketing muscle to a broader audience. It will be interesting to see how successful Safeway et al are. Since most wine is sold at supermarkets, wineries should be excited, too–a big opportunity to increase upsell. 


It sounded like sci fi but it wasn't. Until the international biodiversity report on invasive alien species came out I, like most wine writers/journalists (and I'm sorry to say this) have not paid attention to the fact that most chemical agriculture exists to counteract the impact of invasive species. And then in the country's sites–the potential scourge of the spotted lanternfly is on the horizon. While industry leaders bemoan declining wine sales, the lanternfly threat is far more serious, if less immediately apparent. It could wipe out the entire wine industry in a flash. Let's hope, of course, that it doesn't get that chance. Some scientists are focused on solutions.


This story seemed to have hit a nerve, as it showed up as the most popular one on WineBusiness.com for days and days after it was first posted. Once dismissed as irrelevant and for teetotalers only, this segment is grow grow growing. And for reasons, people didn't usually think of–like, I want to keep drinking with my friends, I have to drive home, but I'll just make my third glass of wine NA.  

From Wood Chips and Mushroom Extracts to Vintner Coalitions: Government Funded Ecosystem Restoration Projects Enhance Vineyard Resilience

A fire remediation story no one has written about, but everyone should be writing about. Let's chart a better roadmap to resilience than the conventional "wisdom" offers.  

California Pesticide Regulators Set a New Course to Reduce Toxic Chemicals

In keeping with the international move to safer conventional farming, California's collected a diverse group of what I call "the lambs and the lions"–i.e. a wide spectrum of opinions and needs on conventional farming chemicals. This groundbreaking consortium laid out policy recommendations that the ag industry can expect to see implemented. Subsequent signaling from DPR shows that fumigant reduction tops the list. 

Just a Cool Video

 I wish we saw more thinking (and videos) like this in the U.S. This is a very cool bucket list.  


Friday, December 29, 2023

What You Read | The Top Blog Posts of 2023

Organic trends, two notable passings (Paul Dolan and Mike Grgich), and a bit of Slow Wine news were among the stories that attracted the most attention this year. 

While I have happily been doing much more writing for WineBusiness.com along with Grape and Wine magazine (see my regular site's archive for those), I did find a little time to write more about some specialized topics here. 

STORIES ABOUT ORGANICS

• California's Organic Wave: Wine Grape Acreage Increases By 1,774 Acres in Last 12 Months - Napa Increase is 1,000+

This story got 9,000+ page views thanks to the fact that it was picked up by WineBusiness.com and published as a headline in its main site, not just in the blog section. It's also unique since it would appear that nobody besides me pays attention to or compiles organic stats.

Napa Grows Organic Production: Up 33% From 2020-2022

Napa's organic registrants goes up, up, up. (Later on, I counted it as 14% of the county's planted vineyard acreage.)

FEATURED WINERIES

• GunBun's Jeff Bundschu "How Wedded to the Earth Clock We Are" | Heartfelt Humble Bragging Talk Opens Global Buyers Marketplace

This story probably got a boost from social from GunBun and maybe the Global Buyers Marketplace. It was a really stellar, heartwarming speech which is, more or less, about why wine matters.

• Meet Napa's Third Largest Organic Vineyard Owner, Jackson Family Wines, and Its Organic Napa Estates

Chris Carpenter achieved his quest to convert to organic farming and certification on the family owned wine company's Napa treasures, including its prestigious mountain estates. 

(See my article in Grape and Wine magazine for more on this story.)

• Fancy an Organic Dry Creek Winery? Quivira's For Sale | $24 Million Price Tag

Historic Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc star producer seeks new owners. 

• Oregon Wine Board Founders Award for Dr Robert Gross; Second Major Award Win for a Biodynamic Producer in Oregon

I have so much admiration for the Gross family and their wine accomplishments and for being a benchmark for affordable and excellent wines all from a large and expanding biodynamic estate. Well deserved kudos. They've been a great role model for the region.

HISTORIC PASSINGS

• Grgich 100th Birthday Celebration July 1 Brings Out the Fans

Croatian dancers served Croatian style sausages, the local priest officiated, and Chardonnay was downed in celebration of the master winemaker's 100th birthday. 

(See my WineBusiness.com story about the winery's grand tasting of his historic wines in his honor here.)

• Paul Dolan In Memoriam 

A senior statesman of wine who performed economic miracles for Mendocino County's wine growers and an evangelist for the biodynamic and regenerative farming, Dolan was one of the kindest and most generous men in wine. (And a friend of mine who I ran the International Biodynamic Wine Conference for Demeter with).  I also wrote his obit for WineBusiness.com here

SLOW WINE 

• Slow Wine Guide 2023 Book Review on YouTube: 98 Points! Thank You, James the Wine Guy

It was lovely of James to feature our book, the product of so many minds, and the collection of oh so much data. Few people see that the data alone is worth the price of admission, but James did. Thank you! 

But of course, the winery profiles, curation of included wineries and wine and winery awards are fabulous. Buy the new 2024 guide here.

• Slow Wine USA Tour: Better Together - American and Italian Wineries Pour at SF Tasting

This week Elin McCoy of Bloomberg published her 50 best affordable wines of the year list (gated content) and called out Italian producers as the place to look for the best values.  Many wineries on this annual Slow Wine tour (coming up in early 2024 again in SF and four other US cities) would probably agree. 

ROUNDUP HERBICIDE

• Must See Movie INTO THE WEEDS Gets 100 Percent Thumbs Up Ratings on Rotten Tomatoes: Critic Calls It "Compulsively Watchable"

It's educational, it's illuminating, and it's a hot topic in the wine world today as recent stories in Napa (see my coverage for WineBusiness.com on Napa Green and Napa Valley Grapegrowers) point out. The bad press from court cases has led consumers to ask questions about the herbicide's safety. 

Thursday, December 28, 2023

Sonoma's Organic Vineyards Growth Slows Dramatically | Hovering at 4 Percent

PERCENTAGE OF ORGANIC VINES IN SONOMA

I was delighted to be on Sam Coturri and pals' most excellent podcast last week, and Sam asked me what percentage of vineyards in Sonoma are organic. So I decided to tally it up today.

My unofficial count (better than nothing because the govt. does not count organic wine grape acreage, sadly) showed a total of  2,332 acres. Out of 57,000 acres (2022 county crop report number), that means Sonoma's organic acreage is 4 percent. 

It's gaining, but nothing like in Napa, where it's closer to 14 percent, adding close to 1,000 acres this year alone thanks to Jackson Family's Napa conversion of 667 acres (which has not been replicated at scale in Sonoma).

SONOMA ORGANIC VINEYARD TRENDS

After a few years of significant growth in which several 200+ acre vineyards in Sonoma went organic–including Gundlach Bundschu and Donum Estate–2023 saw a tiny increase in organic acreage in the county with just 40 acres of newly certified organic vines. 

In 2021, Donum added 202 acres to the county's organic acreage followed in 2022 by GunBun with 264 in 2022.

But in 2023, only 40.5 new acres were added - or roughly just 20 percent of the new growth seen in 2021 and 2022. 

Furthermore, many vineyards surrendered their organic certifications. 

2021
Donum202
Hanzell46
Hobo + WINE12
Mendoza4
264

2022
DesForges5.5
Grist68
New Puli1.9
Abbots Passage40
Vineburg LLC dba Gundlach Bundschu Winery264
379.4

2023
RAEN7
Bazzano15
Fifth Hill (Ned Hill)13
Sophie James5.5
40.5

DECERTIFICATION

While a wet year in 2023 might be blamed for suspending organic certification in 2023, only four growers or wineries –Bartholomew, Benovia, Bucher, and Cassata–left organic certification in 2023.   

2020-2023
Brereton           NA
Charlie Smith           NA
Bucher Farms38
Bartholomew22
Cassata Sonoma21
Amapola Creek (in 2020)20
Benovia Winery (Cohn Vineyard)18
Larson Family Winery15
Belli Vineyards12
146


Two steps forward, one step back?

Meanwhile, Ridge Vineyards continues to hold the top spot with 266 acres of organic vines, followed by Donum and GunBun.

Other major organic players include Benziger and Eco Terreno each with 100 acres and Hamel which has 97. 

Sunday, December 24, 2023

Talking about Slow Wine, Roundup, and Lots More | With Sam Coturri and Friends on their "The Wine Makers" Podcast | AKA "The Car Talk" Of Wine

 

It was worth the drive up from Oakland to Sonoma in the pouring rain on Monday the week before Christmas to meet up with Sam Coturri (of Winery Sixteen 600) and his merry band of podcast brothers– Brian Casey (former somm at Girl and the Fig), Bart Hansen (winemaker and owner of Dane Cellars) and host John Myers (a radio professional)–to talk about Slow Wine, Cal recycles, Roundup herbicide and so many other things on their podcast The Wine Makers.

You can hear the episode here.  

I'd say they are the "car talk" of wine–with the jokes whizzing by, conversation, questions and a totally unpretentious vibe. 

Remember how the two Magliozzi brothers made you feel? Even if you had never popped the hood on your car or never added oil to your car yourself, you wanted to listen just to laugh.

These four guys asked intelligent questions, made silly puns, and drew out a lot of information in the course of an hour and 22 minutes.

This free ranging conversation covered a lot of territory and I am sure many listeners might want to know more. 

So Here Are The Show Footnotes. (Not to be confused with Sam's very well done show notes on the podcast.) 

Slow Wine USA is where to find more info about Slow Wine and the 2024 guide. See some of our "bell ding" worthy deets and rave reviews. (The second edition will be out in January 2024). 

WineCountryGeographic.com is my own site and my blog is linked from there. (You're on the blog now if you're reading this). 

Into the Weeds is the link to the Roundup film. 




• Pesticide use map - glyphosate used on wine grapes (at Tracking California)

Data from Pesticide Use Report, California Department of Pesticide Regulation (aggregated) and from county ag commissioners (individual site data available upon request by county)




• Winery Brands Going Organic at Scale…



• Bob Kremer, veteran USDA glyphosate researcher 
“It interferes adversely with the soil mycorrhiza… Some beneficial groups can be depleted or decreased considerably…and some other plant detrimental types would be increased.” 



2018 Austrian study: three leading herbicides–flazasulfuron, glufosinate, and glyphosate–“reduced grapevine root mycorrhization on average by 53 percent compared to mechanical weeding.” 


• CRV 



Labeling is actually required 18 months from Jan. 2024 AND THAT IS July 2025 -  NOT BY JAN. 1 2024 (erroneously stated in podcast)


• Global Glyphosate Study from the Ramazzini Institute in Bologna 


• Tiny amounts of Roundup genotoxic at low doses - (I meant to say the Shikamate Pathway) The Guardian |  People exposed to weedkiller chemical have cancer biomarkers in urine – study
Dose to risk studies still being researched but preliminary announcements at Global Glyphosate Study say regulators' approved doses are not safe, based on latest research



• Where Roundup is banned (scroll down down down on that page for California towns)


That's it for now. Enjoy the holidays with a nice glass of Slow Wine!