The Second Glass

With all the hype around global warming you’ve suddenly become a lot more environmentally aware. You’re already sleeping on unbleached cotton sheets and flaunting your PETA shirt while riding your bike to the supermarket to recycle your soda cans, but it just doesn’t seem to be enough. Isn’t there something else you could do for the planet? Yes, and all you have to do is drink more wine!
More and more wine makers are choosing the benefits of sustainable, organic, and biodynamic viticulture over conventional methods. Though “natural” wines were seen as a novelty in the 80s and early 90s, the outbreaks of mad cow disease and foot and mouth disease catapulted organically farmed wines to superstardom. Now with people demanding to know where their food is coming from, rising fuel prices, and heightened environmental awareness, “natural” farming techniques are definitely more than just a winemaking trend.

Organic Viticulture

Alright, tree huggers, here you go– organically farmed wines. To achieve this highly regarded certification, the grapes must be farmed free of genetic modification or manmade, industrially-synthesized compounds. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. Think about it: how do you stop millions of animals and insects from eating easily accessible, sweet, and delicious berries? By dousing the vines in synthetic poisons, of course! And how do you keep little, water-filled, soft-shelled capsules from rotting or growing mold and bacteria in the warm sun? With tons of chemicals! Unless… with today’s technology you could create some kind of monster He-Grape in a lab, impervious to all disease! Oh wait, no genetic modifications. Such is the dilemma of the organic farmer.

So how do they do it? Well, organic farmers are forced to focus on prevention rather than scrambling to find a cure for the vine’s problems. This is done primarily by feeding and fertilizing the soil as opposed to the vine. Organic farming is based on the principle that healthy soil makes for healthy, steadily fed and nurtured vines that will be less vulnerable to disease. Composting provides organic fertilizer that is rich in nutrients that attract beneficial living organisms like certain bacteria, fungi, and worms, which in turn make for healthier plants. Synthetics (usually applied to the plant and not the soil) inhibit all organisms, both detrimental and beneficial. On the other hand, while healthy soil is good for making healthy vines, it is also good for making healthy weeds that strangle vines as well as steal nutrients from them. When faced with this problem, these McGyvers of winemaking have been known to herd sheep in between the vine rows to feed on the weeds. If a herd of sheep isn’t readily available, they can plant cover crops of things like clovers to attract other helpful fauna to eat weeds and scare away potential grape stealers.

Growing and nurturing a strong, healthy vine is just the beginning. Organic farmers still have to ward off mildews without chemical sprays. For this they use naturally occurring substances like salt copper sulfate and soap plant oils. In addition to being all-natural, these are contact sprays. This means they are just applied to the surface of the plant where they remain. Most synthetic sprays make their way through to the vine’s sap and eventually the pulp of the grape. For those of you keeping score at home, grapes from conventionally farmed vineyards let synthetic chemicals make it into your wine!

So why doesn’t everyone farm their grapes organically? Organic farming can be very risky. If some unforeseen super-aphid starts spreading like a plague and starts to destroy all the vines, organic farmers cannot use poison to save their vines. They face using industrial sprays and losing organic status (which they can’t get back for three years), or finding a slower, organic solution, which may give the aphids enough time to ravage the vines. In the short term, it is costly to convert to organic status. Perennial crops like grapes take two years before they can be certified organic. That means that once a winery decides to farm organically, not only do they have to start all the organic practices and adopt new pest control methods, but they won’t even be deemed organic for three years and have to wait just as long before they see any return on their investment. These factors make the switch from conventional viticulture to organic very difficult and very costly. A much easier transition however, is the switch to sustainable viticulture and then from sustainable to organic.

Sustainable Viticulture

Sustainable viticulture is the most prevalent of the three “natural” viticulture practices. It focuses on avoiding any environmental degradation or deterioration while retaining the economic viability of the winery. As Mike Benziger, Winegrower, General Manager, and Winemaker for Benziger Family Winery puts it, “Certified-Sustainable is the first step on the path towards growers becoming organic and Biodynamic. [It] is rooted in environmentally and socially responsible practices designed to preserve vineyard character.” Though it is very similar to organic farming, sustainable vineyards are allowed to use some pesticides, though the strength of the spray is greatly reduced. Sustainable vineyards break away from the norm by doing away with calendar-based sprayings of chemicals and only using them as needed. Basically, sustainable viticulture can be like training wheels for the winegrower that wants to be organic but is scared of an insect disaster and wants the option of spraying.

Sustainable vineyards try to offset the sprayings needed by utilizing Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM involves monitoring pests and environmental conditions and then creating the worst condition possible for the pests. Benziger (biodynamic) does this “primarily through the creation of a balanced system of predator and prey relationships in and around the vineyard. We practice natural pest control on our estate properties through the planting of wildlife sanctuaries devoted to attracting beneficial mites, bugs, butterflies, birds and small animals that prey on pests harmful to grapevines.” In the end the vines thrive without chemical intervention

In addition to pest control, the self-sustaining farmer tries to sustain his needs by using only what’s available from the land. Since fossil fuels don’t typically sprout out from a well under vineyards, sustainable and organic farmers try to rely more on manual labor instead of using machinery that consume resources that can’t be taken from or given back to the land. Many “natural” vineyards are switching over to solar power and some even go to the extent of recycling carbon dioxide gas produced in alcoholic fermentation in order the provide themselves with a sustainable source of power. Wild Hog Vineyards (organic), for instance, is situated completely off the grid and is run purely by solar and hydropower. As a result, they are self-reliant and sustaining, resulting in money saved and a less expensive wine on the shelf. Just think of all the hacky sacks you can buy with the money you’re saving!

Biodynamic Viticulture

Two parts organic viticulture and one part voodoo, biodynamic viticulture is definitely the most intensive of the “natural” farming practices. Mike Benziger states that biodynamic is “a holistic farming approach that encompasses many of the principles of organic farming, such as the elimination of all chemicals. However, biodynamics takes organics a few steps further, requiring close attention to the varied forces of nature influencing the vine. It also emphasizes a closed nutrient and self-sustaining ecosystem.” It is based on the theories of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, set forth in the 1920s. It was his theory that a whole vineyard is a living organism and should be managed as self-sustaining. The composts made from chamomile, nettles, dandelion, oak bark, and other materials should all come from the vineyard. Cattle, as opposed to tractors, used to plow the land should live on the vineyard. Sprays are made from manure and quartz-filled cow horns (all sourced from the land) and pests are collected from the property and subsequently ashed and spread to dissuade future pests from taking up residence on the vines.

Now here’s where it gets more than a little out of the ordinary. In addition to not using any chemical sprays, biodynamics recognizes each vine as having four distinct parts; the root, leaf, flower, and fruit. All of which correspond with one of the four elements; earth, water, air, and fire. When work is needed in one of these areas, the farmer must wait until the moon is aligned with the element’s particular zodiac sign and therefore has the strongest “force.” Though the reasons for the farming can be scrutinized by many a skeptic, a side effect of this is that it forces wineries to make their vineyard small, focused, and well maintained. Since there are only two to three day windows when the moon is aligned, the vineyard must be small enough for every vine to get the proper attention. Does all this astrology really have a noticeable effect on the wine? No one can say for certain. What is known, however, is that biodynamically farmed vineyards are putting out some very serious wines that capture terroir extremely well. Go see for yourself!
So there you have it. We’ve gone from merely shunning synthetic chemicals to busting out the tarot cards and everywhere in between. Whether you are among the less then 1% of biodynamic believers, or you just don’t like the idea of pesticides making it into your wine, you can’t argue that organic farming produces some of the best fruit. Theoretically, shouldn’t the best fruit produce the best wine?

Organic vs Organically Farmed Wine

Organically farmed wine and organic wine is NOT the same thing. Organic wines make up less than 1% of organically farmed wines and are made from organic grapes without the addition of any sulfites during the winemaking process. While this sounds good in theory, it is not very practical as it can lead to bacteria growth and spoilage. On the other hand wines made from organically farmed grapes can contain up to 2/3 the sulfites used in conventional wines.