As a follow up to my post on the 2008 Cap-Rock Viognier that was produced from 100% Organic grapes, my fellow blogger @StevePaulo made a really good point on Twitter. His comment was -
"Does it matter? 'Made from Organic Grapes' means the rest of the process isn't organic. What's the advantage, in general?"
I think that is does matter, but his point is well taken. I thought I would break down my thoughts on this issue.
Organic Grapes
All that a wine has to do to put "Made From Organic Grapes" on the label, is be made from certified organic grapes. The wine can still have sulfides, and be made with non-organic methods. This means that a lot of the benefits of a truly organic wine are missing from the process. So what good is it?
There are a lot of reasons why people support organic products and agriculture. Some of these reasons are related to health benefits and the like, while others have to do with earth friendly practices. I think that it is far better for the land when organic farming practices are used. This benefit is taking place in a wine made from organic grapes, even if the wine itself still uses non-organic practices. I even think that there is some benefit to using organic fruit, but I have absolutely no data to support this.
Organic Wines
This is where it's really at when it comes to organic designations in wine. Not only do the grapes have to be organic, but the wine can't contain added sulfides. I definitely think that this is the ideal situation. You get all of the benefits of the organic grapes, but you also have a wine-making process that is free of some of the junk that goes into normal wines.
Biodynamic Wines
That's a whole different post, and I couldn't possibly do it justice here.
The Conclusion
I think that it's a step in the right direction. I'm taking a little bit of a Field of Dreams approach to the whole thing, and saying, "if you grow it, they will make organic wines." I hope that some brave Texas winery will produce an organic Texas wine someday soon, but only time will tell. Right now there simply aren't enough organic grapes being grown in the state for wineries to produce organic wines. I have heard tell that Becker has looked into producing organic wine from out of state grapes, but I don't know this for certain. Hopefully the arrival of a wine produced from organically grown grapes will be the harbinger of an organically produced wine made from Texas grapes, but my guess is that we are still a ways off from that.
By the way, if you haven't checked out Steve Paulo's blog, Notes From the Cellar, I highly recommend it.
Steve’s blog does rock and his insights are always…well…insightful. Anyway, I think the fact that wine is made from organic grapes DOES make a difference even if the rest of the process is not organic. The reason is that at least the farming is done in a sustainable way which is better for the land. Its a step in the right direction for a company to go organic (even if it is only in their growing practices).
Josh
Glad I got your wheels spinnin’, Ben. My contention, really, is that while “Made from Organic Grapes” is a move in the right direction, I think it’s actually a bit smarmy… 99% of consumers will see that and think “organic wine!” yet the winery has had to make no changes to their process (except where they get their grapes) in order to reap some kind of perceived benefit.
Frankly, while I agree that organic farming methods are best for the land, I also feel that inorganic processing methods can completely destroy any benefit that organic grapes give actual consumers when they consume wine.
But, I still accept your point that something is better than nothing, and that we have to start somewhere.
I’ll raise my next glass to the future, when organic product and process is the accepted norm in the wine world. We can only hope.
Thanks for the comments.
Steve, I agree, it is an easy way for a winery to be able to slap the word “organic” on their label. There’s no doubt that a lot of consumers will equate this with organic wine, and I’m sure the winery is aware of that fact.
I think that the biggest benefit of a wine made with organic grapes is the one that Josh mentions, sustainable farming practices.
Ultimately, if it stops at Texas wines produced with organic grapes, the gains are certainly minimal. For now I’ll be right there, raising my glass next to you.
For the record, the organic charter allows the use of substances such as copper sulphate (an anti-mould treatment) that do not break down in the soil and are ultimately harmful to the ecosystem so unfortunately there’s another layer of ethics and complications since organic should not be considered a synonym for Good For The Whole Environment. That said I raise my glass to the future that Steve describes and agree whole-heartedly that all steps in the right direction are a good thing!
Great point! That is true. The organic label on food and wine can be a really fuzzy thing. Consumers often feel like they can just trust that label, but it doesn’t necessarily mean everything that they think it does. Thanks for bringing that up Ilpalazzone.
Ciao again! I run a small winery that is environmentally engaged but is not certified organic (nor will we it ever be). It is very frustrating since we are actually very attentive to the environment in many ways; from eliminating polystyrene and choosing lighter bottles to having a solar powered cellar or locally sourced posts in the vineyard. There is no way for me to convey this to people who might buy or drink our wine. In France there is a register of producers commited to responsible agriculture. In Italy the same concept exists although it is not currently regulated – RA is a wider category than organic but it extends to all aspects of production, from the land to the bottle. I have outlined some of our practices on our site, here are the links:
http://www.ilpalazzone.com/the-estate/il-vino-si-fa-in-vigna/
http://www.ilpalazzone.com/the-estate/environmental-concerns/
The organic label on food and wine is only part of the whole picture.
Ilpalazzone, I give you big props for the work that you are doing. I am well aware of the difficulty faced by those farmers and vineyard/winery managers who are really trying to do things the right way. I know a lot of farmers who have decided that the organic certification is not worth the trouble it takes to get it, and most of these people go above and beyond what would be required in a lot of areas.
I know that one of the major hurdles that producers like you face is showing the public that you are creating environmentally responsible wines, without the benefit of an organic certification. Thanks for posting the links that talk about your practices. I am only too happy to help you get the word out.
I saw some organic honey at the farmer’s market. Kind of reminds me of this issue
As I understand it, there is no designation for organic wine in Texas. I know that rules are being worked out, but I think that right now “Made from organically grown grapes” is as organic as we can legally get in Texas even if we were talking about a biodynamic winery.
I might be wrong. But I think that’s correct.
By the way, it isn’t easy to slap the label organic on a wine. I had to submit the paperwork 3 times before the BAT accepted it.
Best,
Phillip
Hi Phillip, I really appreciate the comment here. I love getting input from the actual people involved in making the wines. I certainly didn’t mean to imply that it was easy to get the certification that you did. I did not realize that there was no organic designation for wines in Texas, so that is really interesting to know. I appreciate any steps being taken towards making quality wines in a responsible manner, so I definitely wouldn’t want to diminish what you have done with this wine. Hopefully I will get a chance to talk with you about this in person sometime soon. Cheers!