The Eco-wine Boom

It seems every major wine magazine and wholesale company is touting organic wines these days. But it goes much further than organic. Some vineyard's practice organic farming,some are certified organic and some are biodynamic.

Organic and Biodynamic methods of food production seek to minimize damage to ecosystems and create a stable agriculture into perpetuity. 

What is organic farming and agriculture?
A system of agricultural techniques popularized and named by farmer and publisher J. I. Rodale in 1946. He named this system "Organic". The word has several meanings, including "a whole system of interdependent parts," "decomposed plant material," as in organic matter, and in chemistry: "chemical compounds which contain carbon". He established a demonstration farm in Pennsylvania and founded Rodale Press, which publishes Organic Gardening magazine and many books.

J. I. Rodale was influenced by Sir Albert Howard's work with composting in India. Cover cropping and composting are used to build organic matter in the soil and synthetic inputs are discouraged. Organic farming emphasizes building soil fertility on the premise that a healthy, living soil produces healthy plants which are more resistant to pests and disease and have higher nutritional value. With the passage of the USDA National Organic Program (NOP), organic farms in the United States can now achieve certified organic status with a rigorous yearly inspection from a USDA certified inspection agency, such as CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers).
 
What is Biodynamic® farming?
The oldest comprehensive system of organic agriculture started in 1924 by German philosopher Rudolph Steiner. Biodynamic farms strive to be a self-sustaining organism within the surrounding ecosystem. The name comes from the Greek word "bio", which means life-energy. The worldwide Demeter organization certifies Biodynamic farms. Demeter standards are generally stricter than organic standards and emphasize farm animals, soil and plant sprays and compost preparations which enhance and regulate plant growth and fertility.

A wave of prestigious California vineyards have embraced Biodynamic farming methods since Frey Vineyard's home ranch became Demeter certified in 1996. Inspired by the success of famous French wine chateaus using these methods, winemakers are excited about the high quality of Biodynamically grown grapes.

These vineyard's oversee grazing of cows, sheep and chickens throughout the vineyard rows. They grow their own herbs such as chamomile and yarrow for the Biodynamic® preparations and encourage a diversity of plants to grow in buffer zones around our vineyard plots.

Who makes these wines?

Many of the famous Domains and Chateaus in France have been practicing this for hundreds of years. Many new world wineries are just as committed to the same standards. But here is the catch, most of these wineries are not certified organic. We heard one famous French wine makers this February explain ,”why should I pay for this certification when this is all we have done (organic methods) for 400 year on our farm. Let the people who spray these chemicals get certified and pay extra money”. It seem like every wine tasting we go to lately has devoted whole sections to this organic spotlight. We are shocked how intimate that these wine makers are with there land.

Where can I find these wines?

We are just as impressed with some of the restaurants that we dine at locally and in Manhattan. Lots of the wine stewards can easily answer questions about organic and Biodynamic wines. We have also found some local stores that have great selections of these wines.

Organic grapes verses organic wine.

One major confusion about this topic is what is organic. Most of these wines use organic grapes in their wine, but the wine is not organic. I did not mean to alarm anyone. So read the label carefully, it might say “grapes grown organically”. All this mean is that the wine has gone through conventional production methods using organic grapes. France has different regulations than the United States for Organic Wine. Under the new USDA National Organic Program, Organic Wines must be made from certified organic grapes and contain no additives, such as sulfites or tartaric acid. Wineries that use organic grapes, but add sulfites or other additives can only be labeled “Made with organically grown grapes.”