Earlier this month I wrote a blog about natural wine (see link below) and gave it my two cents. I just finished reading an article about organic wines, or as some people say, green wines/wine making and figured I might as well put my two cents in it while we are at it.
The article didn’t provide any true meat to the matter, as to facts or statistics et cetera, but due to that, it certainly got some people stirred up and a nice discussion was started. As I am reading thru the article and comments, I find myself nodding in agreement a few times as well as shaking my head in disagreement on some other comments. What is irritating to me is that some people like to write something just to write something. What is the point? I don’t know J
Ok – so back to our wonderful, green world of wine. Organic, biodynamic or sustainability is really nothing new; it used to be the norm about 50-60 years ago. Back then, they just didn’t label it as such, because they didn’t have too. Most of it was a natural production process, but since we don’t like the brown spot on the apples or the romaine lettuce wasn’t big enough, we started to interfere.
Seeing organic notations on wine labels fits the same mess. Organic labeling is a marketing thing if you ask me and while natural yeasts or less human interference certainly shows in a wine, it clearly doesn’t always show for the better in the wine. I believe that everything has its right application at the right place and time. In a great year where nature was good to us, a vintner should not have to use any chemicals to produce a good wine, but in really bad years, a little here and there, is ok by me. At the end of the day, the farmer just tries to make a living as well. It also depends on where wine is grown, as example Domaine de la Romanee-Conti has been 100% organic since the mid-eighties and they are certainly one of the most famous wines of the world.
Organic also doesn’t mean, no spraying took place, it is a matter of fact, a good amount of “organic sprays” are actually sulfur and cooper based. Cooper oxychloride as example is technically speaking an organic fungicide, however it is not suggested to ingest or apply. Furthermore, if used too long in the vineyard, it will cause a heavy metal toxicity problem in the soil.
To wrap this up, let me say the following. While I certainly like to use or even reuse my paper bags in the grocery store or buy my veggies on a farmers market versus elsewhere, there comes the point of balance. Just as balance is important in the vineyard, so it is in our daily life, daily choices we make. If you are finding a nice wine that you like, drink it! Don’t worry about anything else. Doesn’t matter if you are pro or con organic matters, or would you refuse a glass of screaming eagle cabernet or a glass of Romanee-Conti Burgundy just because? I didn’t think so neither!
Prost!
Links:http://vinoaficionado.blogspot.com/2011/09/natural-wine.html
No comments:
Post a Comment