Organic Wines Uncorked: Organic Winners at 2015 Sonoma County Harvest Fair Wine Competition

Monday, September 21, 2015

Organic Winners at 2015 Sonoma County Harvest Fair Wine Competition

After three days of judging last week, the 2015 Sonoma County Harvest Fair Wine Competition results were announced today.

With just 1,409 acres of organic vines in the county (out of 58,280 total), or 2.4% of the total vineyard acres, the organically grown wines represented 5% of the Best of Class awards.

BEST OF CLASS

Cabernet Sauvignon

Medlock Ames, 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon - Bell Mountain Estate (Organic Vineyard), Alexander Valley, $45

Zinfandel Blend

Benziger Family Winery, 2013 Joaquin's Inferno (Biodynamic Wine), Sonoma Mountain, $65

GOLD MEDALS

Out of 315 gold medals (out of 1,189 wines total), the organically grown wines numbered ten, or 3 percent.

Cabernet Sauvignon

Benziger Family Winery, 2012 Obsidian Point (Biodynamic Wine), Sonoma Valley, $60

Benziger Family Winery, 2012 Three Blocks (Biodynamic Wine), Sonoma Valley, $49

Benziger Family Winery, 2012 Tribute (Biodynamic Wine), Sonoma Mountain, $80

Petroni Vineyards, 2010 Cabernet (Organic Vineyard), Moon Mountain District, $75

Chardonnay

DeLoach, Chardonnay, Estate, (Biodynamic Vineyard), Russian River Valley, $50

Pinot Noir

Benziger Family Winery, 2013 Bella Luna (Biodynamic Wine), Russian River Valley, $49

DeLoach, Pinot Noir, 2012 Maboroshi (Biodynamic Vineyard), Russian River Valley, $50

Merriam Vineyards, 2013 Three Sons (Organic Vineyard), Russian River Valley, $75

Red Blend

Medlock Ames, 2013 Snake Pit - Bell Mountain Estate (Organic Vineyard), Alexander Valley, $60

Zinfandel

Fogline Vineyards, 2013 Grist Vineyard (Dry Creek AVA), $38

OVERALL

According to the Press Democrat newspaper, which covers Sonoma County, 55 of the 80 wines that won gold medals were from wineries owned by one couple - Ken and Diane Wilson - who own Wilson, Matrix, Mazzocco, Pezzi King, Soda Rock and St. Anne's Crossing (none have any wines from organic vines).

For a complete list of all of the winners, see the full results here.

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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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Monday, September 21, 2015

Organic Winners at 2015 Sonoma County Harvest Fair Wine Competition

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