Organic is in the eye of the beholder

Organic Wines

The continuing growth in interest in organic food has fueled an interest in organic wines. But what are we actually getting when you buy a wine labelled "organic?"

First we need to distinguish between "organic wines" and "wines made from organically-grown grapes." Wines labelled "organic" SHOULD guarantee that only non-chemical substances were used in the growing of the grapes AND the making of the wine. Wines labelled "made from organically-grown grapes" make no guarantees that the wine-making process was organic.

How do you know the wines are organic? Because the wines have some sort of national certification process which endorses them. And how credible are national certification processes? It depends on the quality of government that governs the national certification process--sometimes good, sometimes bad. And standards vary widely from country to country.

Here's an example: even here in BC there are differences in standards between the different agencies certifying vineyards as organic. The interior organic associations will certify a farm as organic even if they have used pressure-treated wooden trellis posts, while coastal associations will not. That's a small example. Because "organic" means different things to different people, the wine you, in BC, buy as "organic" could mean something very different in the wine's country of origin.

So let's look at the grape-growing and wine-making processes to see the role chemical interventions play in the production of wine.

First grape-growing. Grapes need little in the way of fertilizer. Vines that struggle produce better, more flavourful crops. Grapes have few serious pests, almost none of which are insects, which require the most toxic chemical interventions. The greatest threat to a grape crop is a mould--powdery mildew. Mildew is combatted with acids, most notably sulphur, which is accepted by most organic-certification agencies. However because the lifespan of moulds is very short, they can mutate around sulphur in one growing season. That means farmers must use an alternative product from time to time within the growing season to restore the effectiveness of the sulphur. There are many alternative products on the market, some "organic" and others not. In my experience the organic products are more expensive, require a much higher application rate, and don't work as well. While research continues on organic fungicides, so far the products offered are not nearly as effective.

In our vineyard, one out of every five sprays is inorganic, comprising less than 5% of the volume of product used in the vineyard. So grape-farming is hardly a chemical-intensive business.

In the winery the story is amazingly similar. Because winemaking is one of the oldest known food processes, most of the products we use to make wine are organic. When we need to "fine" or clarify the wine, we use a clay called bentonite. When we want to soften the mouth-feel, we use protein-based products such as egg whites or skim milk. For many years blood was a frequently-used fining agent but modern squeamishness got that product banned.

We use two non-organic substances in the wine. Sometimes the wines develop an off-odour reminiscent of rotten eggs or burnt rubber (one year we threatened to release a wine called NASCAR). When that happens we dissolve copper in the wine to absorb that lovely odour. The amount is infintessimally small. To fine 3000 liters of wine takes one or two grams, or about a half-teaspoon.

The other non-organic compound used in the winery is, once again, sulphur in the form of sulphites. Sulphites are a preservative. They occur naturally as a by-product of the fermentation process. When wine finishes fermenting it has enough sulphites to protect it. But sulphites evapourate into the air, so unless you plan to bottle the wine instantly, you have to measure and top up the sulphites from time to time.  Many people believe they are allergic to sulphites and so only drink organic wines. However true sulphite allergies are actually very rare (about one per cent of the population), but HISTAMINE allergy is common, and histamines occur naturally in wine, especially red wine. If you get headaches from even small amounts of red wine, you likely have a histamine sensitivity.

Also the level of sulphites in wine varies dramatically from wine to wine. Mass-produced wines that cross international borders must have a higher sulphite level to protect them during shipment, while small local producers can tolerate lower lebels of sulphites because the wines are handled more gently from winery to cellar  for instance, the EEC allows wine to be traded among member countries at sulphite levels of up to 300 parts per million. Because most of our wine is consumed by people right here on Pender, at our winery we try to keep the wine at 30 ppm or below.

So if you're a purist and want only wines made with the absence of chemicals, then stick to those products clearly labelled "organic wine made from organic grapes." But remember "organic" may mean something very different in the country where the wine is made than it does here.If you're only concerned that the wine you're enjoying is made with a light footprint on the earth, rest assured most wine you buy was made with very little in the way of chemical additions. Wine is, after all, one of the most natural products we enjoy.

Cheers!

Keith

Keith Watt is proprietor of Morning Bay Vineyard on Pender Island.