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I think it probably comes down to marketing techniques - adding the organic label to a peach is about the only way to add a story to a piece of fruit while a fancy label, heavy bottle and lots of classifications and ratings help make wine sexy. So, you might say that if a wine has to advertise itself as organic it's probably not that good in the first place. Obviously that's on par with thinking, well Parker only gave this 83 points, it's not worth buying. Somehow I can't picture a USDA seal looking like it belongs on a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir. The Wine Spectator article I mentioned explained some of the markings winemakers DO use though - which seems like it's mostly a logo-fied world. Think the black roosters of Chianti but for Salmon Safe wine.

If you were making organic wine would you feature the USDA seal on it and if not, how do people know it's not just some fake claim? Especially if you made the wine in Australia or something? I think what we're talking about here is also not so much organic but sustainable. If you pipe in gallons of water to grow vines on a desert, does it matter much if it's organic?

You might check into the Demeter Association, they seem to have some of the toughest certification requirements and I think they take those things into account.

It's hard to make excuses for this, mostly because I'm not sure I can bring myself to imbibe Texan "wine".

I'd like to think of buying wine as supporting a different kind of agriculture but it's hard to look past the vast irrigated fields of Australia or the massive doses of pesticide required to keep all the birds, insects, rots, and other diseases away from vines. Still, the recent spread on "Green Wine" in Wine Spectator from June 30th of this year shows that many winemakers are aware of their affect on the environment and working to neutralize it as best they can by powering vehicles with bio-diesel, reclaiming lost marshlands, and practicing the organic and biodynamic practices you mentioned in your post. Nicolas Joly is a legend in Savenierres and was immensely influential in getting other vineyards to change their ways.

I'm optimistic that winemakers want to be stewards of the land and are moving in a responsible direction - just stay away from Yellow Tail (as if we needed another reason)! You might say that winemakers are just about the only farmers that have a hope of being fairly compensated which gives them the reasources to change thier ways. If only we'd pay as much for a perfect and concentrated peach or tomato.

- Ben