Food+Drink
WINE
When wine and spirits go green
Want wine that tastes good and is good for the earth? These organic and
biodynamic options offer the best of both worlds. BY RANDA WARREN, MS, CWE, DWS*
IT SOUNDS A LITTLE WAYWARD — talking
about green wine, beer and spirits — unless
you are discussing libations produced in a
healthy, eco-friendly way. More wineries are
producing products excluding pesticides, additives and excessive sulfites, and using
Mother Nature as a force and guide.
For our purposes, let’s break down eco-friendly wines into two categories: organic
and biodynamic wines.
Organic wine is produced from organically
grown grapes and can be nearly sulfite-free
or contain up to 100 parts per million (ppm)
of sulfites. Take note: All wines naturally contain some sulfites, so there is no such thing
as a sulfite-free wine.
And contrary to what some people think,
organically and non-organically produced
white wines generally contain more sulfites
than red wines. (Organic whites include 70
ppm versus 40 ppm for organic reds.)
Most retail wines contain up to 350 ppm.
However, the majority of organic wines contain less than 40 ppm sulfites. If a wine has
less than 10 ppm, it is not required by law to
say on the bottle label “contains sulfites.” A
winery can become “certified organic,” but it
takes a number of years and can be costly.
The majority of such wineries are incorporating some or many organic grape-growing
and winemaking practices but don’t go to the
trouble of actually becoming certified.
Biodynamic wines (often known as “BD”
wines) are made incorporating the somewhat
mystical principles of biodynamic agriculture,
originating from the ideas of Rudolf Steiner,
who died in 1925. Simply stated, Steiner’s philosophy — called “anthroposophy”— centers
on spiritual, astrological and ecological influences on plants, soil, water and more. Grape
vines grown under the biodynamic regime are
said to have more energy, purity and expression.
Vineyards, biodynamic and organic, are
more fertile and have fewer pests, weeds and
disease, and the resultant wines taste better
and can have increased longevity. ■
