Posts Tagged ‘organic’

We had the privilege to have Luca D'Attoma at the tasting bar of Station Plaza,Luca is a famous Italian enologist with 2 wines that score 100 Points (Perfect Wines). 

We tasted the latest Vintages from his own winery:

-Altrovino 2006.-A blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot 50/50, only produced 40 barrels an small production wine, very aromatic, rich and powerful with a great balance of tannins and fruit.

-Duemani 2005.-An straight Cabernet Franc with a powerful aromas of licorice, Vanilla and Coffee that makes you feel you are drinking Merlot, very complex and concentrate, just 26 barrels produced.

-Suisassi 2005.- 100% Syrah only 10 barrels produced (3,000 bottles) a tiny production. Full bodied and aromatic wine that really shows a wonderful wine making, you can enjoy it now or for the next 5 years.

Certified 100% Organic and Biodynamic from Demeter

Trailblazing oenologist Luca d’Attoma is probably most well-known to readers for the wines he made at Tua Rita and the wines he continues to make at Le Macchiole, two of Bolgheri’s leading estates. In 2001 D’Attoma and his partner Elena Celli purchased several hectares of land in Riparbella, located in the northern reaches of Maremma. The seven hectares of hillside vineyards, which lie adjacent to Castello del Terriccio on their eastern border, are densely planted and farmed biodynamically. I have been following Duemani for several vintages and these are the first wines where the age of the vines and the winemaking philosophy have begun to yield significant results.

Salute,

Miguel

Earth Day at Station Plaza Wine was all about Organic and Biodynamic wines.  Olivier Richard of Chateau de la Selve stopped in to the Tasting Bar and talked about Organic Farming. The wines were great and very affordable.   

It’s true that chemicals such as pesticides, weed killers, fungicides and fertilizers used in the fields do cling to the grapes and seep into the fruit’s pulp and trace amounts can make it to your wine glass. Typically, as many 18 different chemicals are used on non-organically grown grape crops during the growing cycle. The process of fermentation however breaks down a good portion of them. Still, the use of chemicals does impact health indirectly by disrupting ecosystems and communities. The runoff can contaminate groundwater and harm people and wildlife.

Organic wine consumption has grown by double digits over the past several years, some years as high as 28% (in 2005 to $80 million) with good reason.  One reason is sulfites, which do occur naturally in wines during fermentation, but most producers add more to prolong shelf life. In the US, non-organic wines can contain up to 350ppm (parts per million) of sulfites. This can be enough for those estimated .04% of the population or about a million people that are allergic to them and even those with a low tolerance for sulfates to have adverse reactions such as redness and flushing of the face, burning sensations, hives, cramps, headaches or heartburn.   Organic wines have no sulfites added but can have a natural accruing sulfite count somewhere under 100ppm in all finished products.(I am not sure what the actual number is, I’m finding different ones) Most organic wines contain less than half of that.  There are more and more people coming into Station Plaza Wine and asking us for sulfite free wine. This does not really exist, but they swear that organic or low sulfite wine does not give them that adverse reaction. So we looked into it and expanded our organic selection and it seems to be working well.

Sustainable farming is thought to be the next best thing to organic. This is the practice of using as little outside interference as possible and does not require the added cost, filing and dealing with the buerocracy that the certified organic label inteals. Take Shafer Vineyards in Napa Valley, for example. Shafer makes some of the most highly regarded wine in America, and they use owls, songbirds, hawks and bats in place of insecticides and rodent poisons.(So does Disney fyi) They recycle their water, make their own compost and have converted to 100 percent solar power. Sustainable? Absolutely. Certified organic? Nope. Ninety percent of the wine produced in the America is made from grapes grown in California.  If you drink California wine you can check this list from the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance of wineries and vineyards who have made a commitment to sustainable winegrowing. Continue reading “Is Organic Wine healthier for you?” »