The Wine's Organic, but How Does It Taste?

Required Eating

Posted by Jamie Forrest, December 3, 2007 at 10:30 AM

Salon.com ran a fascinating article over the weekend about organic wines, and how the USDA prohibition against using sulfites in those wines can lead to instability and unpredictable flavor changes during aging. Some wine-makers get around this rule by labeling their product as "made with organic grapes," a designation that guarantees that at least 70 percent of the grapes in the wine are organic, but one that also allows for the addition of sulfites to help preserve flavor.

Sulfites are a naturally occurring byproduct in wine-making, and are additionally added as a preservative to prevent oxidation. According to the article, wine-makers have been adding sulfites for hundreds of years to help slow the gradual transition into vinegar that all wines undergo. Hence some experts are wary of wines produced without sulfites. There's something about the directness of this statement that I find really refreshing:

"Generally the taste of organic wines isn't very good," says Andy Waterhouse, interim chairman of the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC-Davis. "People who want to buy organic wine should refrigerate it after buying. Personally, I'm not seeking out organic wines."

Despite that, though, sulfites do have their detractors. For one thing, it is technically a synthetic chemical and therefore violates the rules of organic certification here in the U.S. Some people also have allergic reactions to sulfites in food. As an asthmatic, I am actually a bit sensitive to sulfites and sometimes have a reaction to wines that contain high levels of the preservative. (I have a similar reaction with some dried fruits like apricots and apple rings.) But I generally have no problem with most wines, a fact that jibes with what Dr. Ulrike Ziegner, founder of the Riviera Allergy Medical Center in Redondo Beach, California, says in the article:

People are overly concerned. There are more sulfites in dried prunes than there are in wine," says Dr. Ulrike Ziegner, founder of the Riviera Allergy Medical Center in Redondo Beach, Calif. "If you're a severe asthmatic, you should stay away from sulfites, but the rest of the world, I think, will be fine.

What's your take on organic wines? Is it worth sacrificing taste in order to avoid the inclusion of synthetic additives? Or are the U.S. organic rules overly strict and "ludricous," as Véronique Raskin, American importer of European organic wines, believes?

Photo of grapes from Wikimedia Commons

About the author: Jamie Forrest publishes Curdnerds.com from his apartment in Brooklyn, New York, where he lives with his wife, his daughter, and his cheese.

8 Comments | Tags: organic, sulfites, wine

8 Comments:

The USDA organic rules are BS, as the recent designation of organic has come to allow the inclusion of lots of other suspect additives in order to make business easier for the food giants who want to muscle in on the organic craze. Sulfites are partially naturally occurring. To add sulfites doesnt seem like a big deal to me. Salt is a chemical after all, and yet it is not considered an evil additive. However, stuff like xanthan gum etc. which are man made chemicals and have no business being in organic food, are. BUYER BEWARE, DONT TRUST THE FDA OR THE USDA!!!! They are puppets of the mega food industry and do not have the consumers' interests at heart.

seyo at 11:19AM on 12/03/07

If sulfites in wine is the only "inorganic" distinguishing factor, then I'm fine with drinking wine that isn't "USDA organic" but is still made from organic grapes. I think that one of the important aspects of the organic label is the idea that the grapes are free from pesticides, which is both good for the consumer AND the land. It's the grapes being organic that should matter, not the inclusion of largely naturally-occurring sulfites. And I have to agree with the opinion that officially organic wine isn't that great, but wine made from organic grapes is really good.

charmon at 1:26PM on 12/03/07

Do those who suffer from bad headaches from wine really find the sulfite free wines help? I suggest them to people, but don't know if they really make a difference to those who can't drink regular wine.

hreisig at 5:46PM on 12/03/07

Organic is simply a "feel good" niche market. Chemical fertilizers are cleaner and less prone to introduce things like e. coli to what you put in your body. Funky wine from lack of sulfites is yet another reason organic is bound to fail.

Red_Icculus at 6:36PM on 12/03/07

"Do those who suffer from bad headaches from wine really find the sulfite free wines help?"

There are many naturally occurring chemical compounds in wine... ALL wine. One or more of them may cause a reaction, including headaches. Sulphites do not cause headaches. Tightening of the throat, similar to an asthmatic condition: yes. But not headaches.

If a big, full-bodied red causes headaches, tey a lighter red from a cooler climate. I have a friend who can't drink southern Rhône reds, but is OK with Burgundies. If you can, see an alergist... but one who is not a teetotaller!

Sommelier at 8:33PM on 12/03/07

"organic is bound to fail."

Domaine Romanée Conti is biodynamic, and I don't forsee failure in their future. Where, oh son of Nostradamus, do you get your facts that cause you to forsee the failure of a way of farming that has sustained humans for countless centuries?

Sommelier at 8:38PM on 12/03/07

Personally, I prefer the idea of organic wine. Of course, I am by no means a tree hugging, granola munching hippy, but I do like to know what is in my food. As for the governments definition of organic, well that has always been a little more than suspect... as long as 70 Percent of the juice is organic, the reset can come from a field watered with the waste from a nuclear reactor... but hey it is organic.

I've recently dleved into the whole winemaking thing and have been keeping mine sulphite free. It is definately a challenge to keep the wine from fermenting once it is bottled. I've found pastuerization helps abit but the wine does need to be aged for awhile and run through a filter. I have had more than a few bottles explode on me in the process. Definately a fun learning experience.

http://fermentedfruits.blogspot.com/2007/09/welcome.html

geileraffe at 10:59AM on 12/04/07

I tend to agree with seyo and charmon above about the weakening of the USDA organic standard and the suspect nature of the role of both the FDA and the USDA nowadays. So any argument around organic standards is always clouded by that, I think.

It's true, though, that sulfites play a vital role in winemaking and have for centuries in many cultures. I have friends who are working hard to transition their grapes to organic (they even have baby doll sheep now as "weed killers"), but they're not willing to risk losing entire vintages post-harvest due to letting go of sulfites.

swirlingnotions at 5:01PM on 12/04/07

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