Decantified: Earth Day and Organic Wines
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By Jim Ginley
Saturday, April 17, 2010, Myrtle Beach - Organic wines are becoming increasingly popular, but what defines an organic wine is still being decided.
Earth Day is April 22, which is a good time to talk about organic wines.
Some people like to celebrate Earth Day on the March Equinox, March 20th or 21st, when the sun shines directly on the equator and day and night are almost equal everywhere in the world. However, April 22nd is the day most people observe Earth Day. That date was selected in 1970 because most of the volunteers were college student on spring break.
Earth Day first came about when the need for recognizing the growing problems concerning air, water and soil pollution was founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin. He also wanted to encourage awareness and promote ecology and respect for life on the planet.Many customers come into Green’s searching for organic wine believe they do not contain sulfites, and then are surprised when they discover many organic wines do contain sulfites. I admit I believed that too until our first shipment of organic wines arrived a couple years ago. I learn something every day in the wine business, and that day I learned a lot about organic wines.
Organically grown grapes are grown without the use of synthetic or chemically altered pesticides or fertilizers. Organically processed wines cannot contain any sulfur dioxide added during winemaking. If a wine contains more than 10 parts per million (ppm) of sulfur dioxide, it must say “Contains Sulfites” on the label. Most organizations agree on these definitions, but that’s about all they agree on. What defines an organic wine is still a matter of conjecture, since there are several U.S. government agencies involved. Three organizations involved are the National Organic Program, which is part of the USDA, the Tax and Trade Bureau, and the California Certified Organic Farmers. The Tax and Trade Bureau, for instance, forbids the term “organic wine” be used on a label. They allow phrases like “grapes organically grown” and “wine organically processed” on the label.
Wines from organically grown grapes can use sulfur dioxide in the winemaking process, (up to 100 ppm) and the label can read “made from organic grapes.” However, one of the USDA’s approved organic certifying organizations must certify any winery that intends to use this phrase on a label or a vineyard that wishes to claim its grapes have been grown organically.
The Organic Grapes Into Wine Alliance (OGWA) is another group looking into different aspects of the winemaking process such as capsule materials, corks, bleaching chemicals, storage tanks, barrel sterilizing materials, plus fining, filtering and clarifying.
There is another term used in conjunction with organic and that is Biodynamic. Relating to wine, this is a farming method developed in Europe in the early 20th century. It is a sustainable method of farming that uses more stringent practices that organic farming and focuses on increasing soil fertility through natural methods.
Jim Ginley is a 30-year veteran of the local hospitality industry and serves as the wine consultant at Green's Discount Beverages in Myrtle Beach. He can be contacted at
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