Ideal Bite

Looking for wine that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside (and not just for the obvious reasons)?

08.25.2005

Submitted by idealbite on Thu, 08/25/2005 - 5:00pm.

The Bite:

Next time you sip - or swill, for that matter - try out an organic wine. Good for the environment, a change from your regular wine beat, and great for your peace of mind.

The Benefits:

Keeps the grapes free of pesticides: gallons of petroleum distillates and hundreds of pounds of pesticides are diverted from scenic wineries (and their residues from your wine glass).
Supports smaller producing wineries - who generally make the best wines anyway.
It's wine. It's good for your heart, your taste buds and your mental state.

Personally Speaking:

We're a little wine-snobby (and of the wine-swilling variety), so to be honest, we were a little skeptical about the whole "organic wine" thing. Fortunately, we were proven wrong. Heather's current fave is Fattoria Lavacchio's 1999 Cortigiano - available through Geerlings & Wade - a Super Tuscan from just south of Florence that helps to curb her Italy cravings. Jen can't seem to remember what that great bottle the other week was called.

Wanna Try:

Organic wine is more accessible than you'd think, but harder to identify for two reasons:

According to the USDA's label requirements, wines with added sulfites can't be labeled "organic." And wines without sulfites can be relatively short-lived, so you may be getting organic grapes, just without the organic label.
Because of the extra care required, organic growers generally see smaller yields in smaller vineyards and they make fewer cases.

So, just ask your own wine store what they recommend! Or, check out Frey Vineyards - perhaps the easiest to find of the US organic winemakers, even available at Costco!

Into armchair shopping? Good news: The Supreme Court has ruled that (most) states can no longer ban out-of-state wine shipments, making organic wine purchases online convenient and economical: