I found this to be an interesting article.
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-organic-wine-20110106,0,3405605.story?track=rss
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-organic-wine-20110106,0,3405605.story?track=rss
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"Organic" wines article
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jswordy
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There is a lot in the wine industry to consider, I think. There are a couple of major issues with large-scale wineries.
But before I get to that, I need to note that there has never been a large conclusive study of sulfites that has proved an allergic reaction to them. That's a fact. I am not saying there may not be a population of people who do have that reaction, just that it has never been proven to research standards.
Commercial wine marketing is quite distinct from what actually goes on in winemaking. Carlos Rossi is a great example of the disconnect between the marketing and the wine. The other side of the "organic wine" coin is that the label is a major marketing ploy when it comes to the consumer but organic products are not necessarily sustainable products.
The wine industry has a huge black eye in California and it is beginning to get one elsewhere on the West Coast for what it has done to the land to plant more vineyards. Huge tracts of land have been clearcut of all trees and growth, re-contoured by large earthmoving equipment and stripped of all of former attributes to the point that it is unrecognizable as to what it formerly was, all so that grapes can be grown and irrigated.
County after county in CA has seen the sale of thousands of acres of farmland that formerly was used to grow a variety of fruits, nuts and produce. It's been stripped bare and devoted to monocropping grapes, with the associated impacts to the local economies (lack of diversity during price fluctuations) and wildlife (lack of habitat).
This is quite a different issue from simply being labeled organic. You don't hear it discussed much in CA because wine is such a major industry there, but it is being discussed in the background. I support all efforts in the industry to eliminate the extreme use of pesticides that puts wine and table grapes on the list of "Dirty Dozen" fruits and vegetables for highest residues when consumed, and I support efforts to attain organic status even if it means adding sulfites.
But what I would really like to see is an industry move to label "sustainably-grown wines." These would be products using grapes grown by smaller farmers working in concert with nature and using organic practices rather than the eco-altering factory farming techniques now in use by virtually every major wine producer.
Some of the large producers now have some acres like this, so they can point to them. But by far, the vast majority of grapes used in commercial CA winemaking are from factory farm type operations.
To me that's a more significant goal, rather than just getting cleared for a certain label to market. If such a push was undertaken, some of the techniques learned from the sustainable operations could spill over to the factory concerns, just as techniques like low-till and no-till planting in grain farming that were considered "hippie stuff" in the 1970s are now common.
The wine industry has been traditionally very slow to respond to health research. For example, it drug its feet regarding asbestos filters and managed to continue filtering wine through asbestos until the mid-1980s, long after the cancer link had been proven. Even UC Davis researchers supported using asbestos filters almost to the very end.
Now with the possibility of sustainably grown wine, here's a chance for vintners to make a real difference, change the industry for the better, and profit by it. I hope they eventually do, though this topic has been discussed since the early 1990s with little real movement so far.
Soapbox removed.
But before I get to that, I need to note that there has never been a large conclusive study of sulfites that has proved an allergic reaction to them. That's a fact. I am not saying there may not be a population of people who do have that reaction, just that it has never been proven to research standards.
Commercial wine marketing is quite distinct from what actually goes on in winemaking. Carlos Rossi is a great example of the disconnect between the marketing and the wine. The other side of the "organic wine" coin is that the label is a major marketing ploy when it comes to the consumer but organic products are not necessarily sustainable products.
The wine industry has a huge black eye in California and it is beginning to get one elsewhere on the West Coast for what it has done to the land to plant more vineyards. Huge tracts of land have been clearcut of all trees and growth, re-contoured by large earthmoving equipment and stripped of all of former attributes to the point that it is unrecognizable as to what it formerly was, all so that grapes can be grown and irrigated.
County after county in CA has seen the sale of thousands of acres of farmland that formerly was used to grow a variety of fruits, nuts and produce. It's been stripped bare and devoted to monocropping grapes, with the associated impacts to the local economies (lack of diversity during price fluctuations) and wildlife (lack of habitat).
This is quite a different issue from simply being labeled organic. You don't hear it discussed much in CA because wine is such a major industry there, but it is being discussed in the background. I support all efforts in the industry to eliminate the extreme use of pesticides that puts wine and table grapes on the list of "Dirty Dozen" fruits and vegetables for highest residues when consumed, and I support efforts to attain organic status even if it means adding sulfites.
But what I would really like to see is an industry move to label "sustainably-grown wines." These would be products using grapes grown by smaller farmers working in concert with nature and using organic practices rather than the eco-altering factory farming techniques now in use by virtually every major wine producer.
Some of the large producers now have some acres like this, so they can point to them. But by far, the vast majority of grapes used in commercial CA winemaking are from factory farm type operations.
To me that's a more significant goal, rather than just getting cleared for a certain label to market. If such a push was undertaken, some of the techniques learned from the sustainable operations could spill over to the factory concerns, just as techniques like low-till and no-till planting in grain farming that were considered "hippie stuff" in the 1970s are now common.
The wine industry has been traditionally very slow to respond to health research. For example, it drug its feet regarding asbestos filters and managed to continue filtering wine through asbestos until the mid-1980s, long after the cancer link had been proven. Even UC Davis researchers supported using asbestos filters almost to the very end.
Now with the possibility of sustainably grown wine, here's a chance for vintners to make a real difference, change the industry for the better, and profit by it. I hope they eventually do, though this topic has been discussed since the early 1990s with little real movement so far.
Soapbox removed.
