Organic Wine
Read about the varying degrees of organic-ness.
The National Organic Program (NOP) of the USDA states that an organic wine is “a wine made from organically grown grapes and without any added sulfites”. Most of the organic wines that we purchase from a variety of vineyards must now be referred to as “wines made from organic grapes”, or “organically grown grapes”. This all comes down to as how the grapes are grown and processed into wine. Wine, even when created naturally, does contain sulfites during fermentation. These amounts of naturally occurring sulfites are generally not in sufficient amount to keep the wine fresh for any extended period of time. Over the years, winemakers have been adding sulfites or sulfur dioxide to increase and preserve the shelf life of their wines.
At present, approximately 20 chemicals are used to grow conventional grapes, those being non-organic, to create today’s wines. Organic grape growers and winemakers use established organic methods of growing their grapes without the use of toxic chemicals. By using natural fertilizers and pest control, and growing other plants in and around vineyards, creating a biodiversity to their agricultural area.
The type of wine determines its natural sulfite content. White wines created without the grape skins tend to have a less natural sulfites to preserve it, where red wines fermented with the grape skins, tend to have a color and more naturally occurring sulfites.
Organic vineyards do add additional sulfites, or sulfur dioxide, but far below the USDA maximum recommendations. Where as a conventional wine may even exceed the maximum of 100 ppm, organic wines will have from 40ppm for white to 80ppm for sparkling wines.
It is all about the sulfites that are causing the problems with the organic wine industry. Sulfites or sulfur dioxide are used as a preservative in wines. It’s anti-microbial properties allow wines to age on the shelf, keep their color, and their flavor. A small percentage of the population do have sensitivities to sulfites, and labeling is important in knowing the amounts contained in your wine. A wine stating that is it ‘Sulfite Free’, may simply have extremely low levels of naturally occurring sulfites, difficult to detect through ATF analysis. A wine with “No Added Sulfites”, is telling you that only naturally occurring sulfites are present, unless the naturally occurring sulfites are above 10ppm, then “Contains Sulfites” will be on the label. NOP states that the 100% Organic and Organic categories must be “Sulfite Free” or have “No Added Sulfites”. The Made with Organic Ingredients category and the Some Organic Ingredients category may or may not have added sulfites.
When shopping for an organic wine, pay attention to the ingredient list on the bottle, for stores may advertise the wine inaccurately.
There are four categories outlined by the National Organic Program (of the USDA) relating to the labeling of their wines. The USDA/NOP regulations do differ from other countries labeling practices. Some foreign governing agencies will allow added sulfites while allowing the wine to be labeled Organic. The four categories are:
100% Organic. For a wine to be labeled “100% Organic” and bear the USDA Organic seal, it must be made from 100% organically produced ingredients, have an ingredient statement on the label, and give information about who the certifying agency is. A wine in this category cannot have any added sulfites. It may have naturally occurring sulfites, but the total sulfite level must be less than 100 parts per million.
Organic. To be labeled “Organic” and bear the USDA organic seal, the wine must be made from at least 95% organic ingredients, have an ingredient statement on the label where organic ingredients are identified as being organic, and give information about who the certifying agency is. Again, a wine in this category cannot have any added sulfites, but it is allowed to have naturally occurring sulfites below100 parts per million. The nonorganic 5% must either be a nonorganically produced agricultural ingredient that is not organically available or another substance like added yeast.
Made from Organic Ingredients/Made from Organic Grapes/Organically Grown. To claim any of these statements, a wine must be made with at least 70% organic ingredients, have an ingredient statement on the label where organic ingredients are identified as being organic, and give information about who the certifying agency is. A wine in this category may not bear the USDA seal. It may contain added and naturally occurring sulfites and the total must still be under 100 parts per million. The 30% of nonorganic ingredients must be nonorganically produced agricultural ingredients that are not available in an organic form or another substance.
Some Organic Ingredients. This category is for products that have less than 70% organic ingredients. It cannot bear the USDA seal nor have information about a certifying agency or any other reference to organic content.
Indigo Earth Notes: Some organic vineyards are upset about the organic regulations regarding wines. They believe that because wines have been made with sulfites for decades that this practice should be considered a basic part of the wine making process and that wine cannot be properly made and preserved otherwise. These wine producers state that even with the added sulfites creating a 100ppm maximum requirement would still bring that wine to a 99.99% organic level.
Other organic wine producers that have not added any sulfites may have an expiry date or best before date on the labels, due to the lower or negligible sulfite content and subsequent limited shelf life. If sulfites are a problem, this system will help inform the consumer. Again, we need to read the label carefully, as we need to do with any other products we purchase.