Organic Wines Uncorked: Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival

The Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival Grand Tasting on Saturday, May 21 is sold out. However, if you're a truly dedicated fan, you can make it to the May 20, Friday event featuring a winery tour and a tasting with Karen McNeil, author of The Wine Bible.

While the world famous Williamette Valley in Oregon offers many organically grown Pinot Noirs (Sokol Blossor, Brick House, Cooper Mountain, Montinore, Maysara - to name a few), Anderson Valley wineries currently offer only two (certified) organically grown Pinots.

One is from Santa Rosa producer Lutea Wine Cellars which has a certified organically grown and processed 2008 Lutea Pinot Noir ($25) made with organic and biodynamically grown grapes from Filigreen Vineyards.

Handley Cellars has an estate Pinot Noir - the RSM vineyard designate - which is also certified organically grown.

Philo Ridge offers a "practicing organic" Pinot ($28) and Segue Cellars had one Pinot made from Filigreen Vineyards' grapes awhile back.

For rose lovers, grab it while you can - Handley Cellars also has a Pinot Noir Rose ($20); the 2010 vintage will be released at the Festival.

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Wines We Cover

We publish information about wines grown from certified organic or Biodynamic vineyards that are generally made with sulfites (which are usually added in small amounts to preserve the wine).

That includes these certification types:

ORGANIC WINE CERTIFICATIONS

• Made with Organic Grapes

Vineyards: certified organic

Vinification: less than 100 ppm of sulfites (i.e. a normal range)

Winery: certified organic facility

Labeling: front or back label

• Ingredients: Organic Grapes

Vineyards: certified organic

Vinification: up to 350 ppm of sulfites (same as for any non organic wine)

Labeling: back label only

BIODYNAMIC® CERTIFICATIONS

• Biodynamic Wine

Vineyards: certified biodynamic

Yeasts: native

Vinification: less than 100 ppm of sulfites; no additives of any kind

Winery: certified biodynamic facility

Labeling: front or back label; Demeter logo may appear

• Made with Biodynamic Grapes

Vineyards: certified biodynamic

Yeasts: native or organic

Vinification: less than 100 ppm of sulfites; limited number of additives permitted

Winery: certified biodynamic facility

Labeling: front or back

Note: unlike organically grown wines, for which there is a category called "Ingredients: Organic Grapes," wines sourced from biodynamic grapes may not make any biodynamic claim on the bottle label. Bottle labeling is reserved for Demeter certified wines only.

SULFITES IN CONTEXT

According to U.C. Davis, the average among all wines in the U.S. (as well as globally) is 80 ppm.

WHAT THE USDA CALLS ORGANIC WINES

Unlike any other nation, the U.S. oddly imposes a no sulfite restriction on wines in order for them to be called Organic Wine. These wines are also called NSA or NAS wines (which stands for "No Sulfites Added" or "No Added Sulfites.")

From the above description, one can see that there are in fact three types of organically grown wines:

1. Organic Wine (less than 15% of all organically grown wine)

2. Made with Organic Grapes

3. Ingredients: Organic Grapes

The vast majority of wines from organic grapes are labeled Made with Organic Grapes, Ingredients: Organic Grapes or are blended with nonorganic grapes and unlabeled.

Fine winemakers do not generally make wine without sulfites and a number of large wine retailers like BevMo do not sell wine in the category of "USDA Organic Wine."

With rare exceptions, this blog does not cover what the USDA calls "Organic Wine."

We are hopeful that the USDA will revise the categorization of organically grown wines and make NSA or NAS wines a category of their own.

This would put the U.S. in accord with the rest of the world, where "Organic Wine" means a wine from certified grapes made within limits on sulfites (generally under 100-150 ppm).

Organic Wines Uncorked

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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival

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