Your Guide to Organic, Biodynamic and Natural Wine
Far Niente winery in Napa Valley is now providing for 100% of its energy needs through solar power. To avoid taking up valuable vineyard land, the photovoltaic panels are floating on their irrigation pond.
Many wineries are already using solar power, including organic winemakers Grgich Hills and Frog’s Leap.
Read the full story in The San Francisco Chronicle.
One of my favorite travel experiences came back to me the other day when a friend e-mailed me photos she took at the Boqueria market in Barcelona, Spain. Aisle after aisle of fresh vegetables, fruits, legumes, meats, cheese and fish. For an eater of local and sustainable food, this is one of the Meccas for slow food ingredients. The images of artfully arrayed, non-processed foods brought a smile to my face and peace to my soul.
When I was last there, many years ago, I became separated from my wife. Somehow, I lost her and simultaneously found myself sitting at one of the restaurant counters around the perimeter and decided to have what everyone else was eating. The food looked invitingly fresh and delicious. Everyone was also drinking cava so I just had to have one too. Ordinarily, I don’t drink at lunch, but there was celebration in the air. As I was happily eating and drinking cava, my wife found me, and the next thing I heard were the words, “Do you know what you’re drinking?” Startled and laughing I answered, “Yes, cava. It’s a Spanish type of champagne.” Ten years later, whenever we see a bottle of cava, we do a rendition of that interchange and it still provokes laughter.
Ten years later, there is really good news to go with that laughter – a certified organic cava. It’s Can Vendrell Cava Brut Reserva and it’s simply delicious. The Spanish, long-time respecters of their ancient soil, have decided that a refreshing drink can also be an ethical one. Organic Vintners imports it, and has made it part of their Organic Wine Journal White Wine package.
So, yes, I do know what I am doing. Once again I’m enjoying local fresh food and pairing it with some cava, but this time it will be organic.
Here are some recent photos of the Boqueria market, courtesy of Katherine Birch.
Just in time for summer, the Organic Wine Journal and Organic Vintners are now offering a certified organic white wine selection for sale online. Build your white collection before the summer heat hits with these bottles from around the globe, offered at an exclusive Organic Wine Journal discount:
Click here to purchase this selection online at Organic Vintners.
Alice Feiring’s new book, The Battle for Wine and Love or How I Saved the World from Parkerization, details her personal journey of discovering her love of wines, and her fear they are now being artificially manipulated by wineries trying to please influential wine critic Robert Parker. We spoke with Alice about wine and love and the perils of writing about them.
Reading your book conjures up a lot of movie analogies: Stepford Wives, Apocalypse Now, Citizen Kane. Are you a wine writer or a fledgling screenwriter?
I’m a novelist. I wouldn’t mind the book being a film though. I’d want Truffaut or Mike Leigh to direct.
Some people have called it a detective story, but there really isn’t a mystery. The wineries all admit to the manipulation, even to the point of bragging about it.
It’s not surprising. New winemakers are not looking to older generations as role models. These are people without passion who are just chasing the buck. Making new wine is a rich person’s arena.
I just got back from Oregon and there were hardly any people in the Portland Indie Wine Festival who didn’t purchase their grapes. It creates an emotional disconnect to the concept of terroir and changes the way wine is being made.
Is Parkerization like global warming? Have we reached the point of no return?
I think we have with global warming. With Robert Parker there is still a chance. Things are fragmenting. People are embracing natural techniques. A lot of people are getting palate fatigue. In his last slew of comments he doesn’t even use “jammy” anymore.
Your main problem with Parker seems to be that he won’t admit to his own power. What could he do to change things?
I do believe he is passionate about wine. He has a good palate for finding wines he likes. But it’s willful ignorance to think there isn’t a sameness going on to please his palate. He should abolish the points system. He started it, he can stop it. People won’t stop reading the Wine Advocate.
He could also stop applauding technology. He says it goes too far, then in the same breath says it’s a good thing for wine. Start doing research on what the technology is. Help to acknowledge the fact that people make wines to please him. He’s a smart guy. He could figure out the next steps.
Is the future positive for winemaking?
Yes. For so long I don’t think there were choices out there, unless you knew how to find them. The greater market is going to empower the winemakers who may have been afraid of natural wine. They’ll start to make wines of passion and not wines of fear. The economy is bad and the big boys are wanting to get out, so the land may go back to the hands of the real winemakers.
How should the average person go about finding good wines? Should people be reading wine stories instead of reviews?
Wouldn’t that be nice. People should develop a relationship with their neighborhood wine store. You can buy a car based on Consumer Reports but also do some of your own research. Buy a couple of bottles and see which reviewers match your taste. See which distributors carry wines you enjoy. Learning about wine is a fun thing.
What do you think about truth in labeling?
It wouldn’t be a bad idea. There are ingredients. I’d like to know when someone did a certain technique, partly because I usually can tell. I’d be in less danger of picking up a wine I wouldn’t want in the first place. The industry doesn’t allow that knowledge. Most people think it’s nothing but grapes.
There are a lot of personal stories in the book. Any worries about the reactions of people you wrote about?
It’s something a writer always struggles with, whether fiction or non-fiction. Will people recognize themselves? Narrative is important. Sometimes you stretch things a bit for readability. I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. You have to be prepared that some people will be pissed off.
Have you heard of any reaction from Robert Parker?
Not yet. He says all the time that I’m a pain in the neck. I think he just wants to make me go away. I am “she-who-will-not-be-mentioned” on the site. I just wrote an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times and some people tried to start a thread about it on the erobertparker.com message boards and they were vanquished. Some people say I was way too easy on him in the book.
You say organic and biodynamic are good methods, but you don’t want them to become just marketing tools. Should wines be promoted this way or not?
It’s inevitable. People do need some guidance, but look at the way small companies sell out to big companies. Didn’t Dagoba chocolates just sell out to Hershey? As these small companies grow they dilute. There’s no stopping using it as a marketing technique. And advertising doesn’t allow for truth in editorial.
What about your time with Nicolas Joly?
He’s evangelical. His traveling road show, Return To Terroir, has done great work. He gets a lot of potshots. He himself is very concerned about the whole marketing aspect. It might push him to take a backseat sooner or later.
How will you deal with your newfound fame?
I’m not convinced it’s fame yet. I’m having my ten seconds in a small world. I’m trying to develop a thicker skin very quickly. I’ve been hiding behind a computer for a long time; it’s hard to emerge. The main thing I tell critics is that the book is about my journey, not yours.
Are you more successful with wine or love?
Most people are more successful with wine than love. You can’t single me out.
Purchase The Battle for Wine and Love or How I Saved the World from Parkerization at the Organic Wine Journal Book Store.
You can also read more of Alice Feiring’s writings on her blog, In Vino Veritas.
Cheese reminds me of people. In the California sunset hue of the Aged Mimolette I recognize my own father; the firm but delicate nature, the coarse exterior (but sweet to those who know it best), even in its scent. Served on a platter, the Mimolette resembles a slice of cantaloupe, so it seems as if it’s smiling. Triple crème Brie looks like the giant marshmallow from Ghostbusters, and the eight month Manchego looks like an old man in a certain light. Particularly the profile. The Pecorino Gran Cru has a striking resemblance to a Victoria’s Secret model; the body is outrageous and those salt crystals get me every time. Fresh chèvres are tender as newborn babies in mangers.
The Purple Haze, from Humboldt County in Northern California, is Jimi Hendrix resurrected in cheese form. It crumbles in your mouth like Castles Made of Sand and the boom of herbs beat into your palate like a Bold As Love guitar solo. This small, circular-shaped goat’s milk cheese is flavored with wild fennel pollen and lavender; so the same herb-driven audience drawn to Jimi’s music will find their fix here. Like Hendrix, this cheese has its tender moments, as well as its insanely heavy ones. The feminine and fragrant blossoms can lighten up a basic spinach salad, or, spread on a grilled vegetable sandwich, can make it quite romantic. Pair it with a Zinfandel and a concert at Woodstock.
The Red Hawk, from Point Reyes, California, resembles Teddy Roosevelt, the rugged individualist of presidents. Teddy mastered life in the saddle, driving cattle, hunting big game, and even captured an outlaw. Red Hawk is the western pioneer of today’s cheeses. Made by the Cowgirl Creamery, it leads American cheese lovers in the same youthful and progressive style as Roosevelt led our country. It is a triple cream, washed and bathed in a brine solution which promotes the growth of a bacterium that tints the rind red. Made with organic milk produced by the Straus family dairy on the pristine Tomalas Bay in California, this cheese was awarded Best-In-Show at the American Cheese Society’s Annual Conference in 2003. It follows Roosevelt’s famous cheese maxim, “ooze softly, and carry a big stink.”
Yancy’s Fancy Buffalo Wing Sauce Cheddar Cheese, from New York, would have to be the notorious Anna Nicole Smith. Infused with the hot sauce generally used for chicken wings, it gets its fair share of jokes as the “trailer trash cheese,” but I absolutely love it; the same way the media made fun of Anna Nicole but secretly loved her. The cheddar itself is unimpressive, but the flavor and silliness from the hot sauce makes everyone smile. It’s amazing on nachos or tacos, served with cold sour cream to cut the spiciness. New York magazine used a photo of Anna squatting in a short skirt and cowboy boots while eating chips for their story called “White Trash Nation.” She could have been eating this cheese instead. I don’t think Yancy’s has the same Marilyn Monroe aspirations that Anna did, but it is still a very fun and playful cheese.
Domaine Zind Humbrecht has produced some of the most widely recognized wines to come out of Alsace, France. Leonard Humbrecht married Genevieve Zind in 1959 and the couple has been at the forefront of the organic and biodynamic movement, creating wines with a forward-thinking approach from their inception.
While their most well known wines come from the Clos Windsbuhl and Rangen vineyards, they also produce many other wines, often drawn from several vineyards, that are available at much lower price-points. The 2005 Pinot d’Alsace, composed of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Auxerrois grapes, is a stellar example of what this Domaine can do with its field blends.
Crisp aromas of unripe apricot skin and white peaches emerge from the glass, with an additional touch of honey and white flowers (even if a tad restrained). Yet the nose is mildly misleading. The amount of fruit indicated is entirely different when experienced on the palate. Bracing lemony acidity appears distinctly on the mid-palate, paired with a nice minerality and additional hint of apricot; the only fruit mirrored in the mouth that was implied on the nose. Medium bodied, and ultimately completely dry, the Pinot d’Alsace is a good representation of Domaine Zind Humbrecht wines at a very accessible price point; $22 retail. A delicious aperitif, this wine would work well with fish, shellfish and certain cheese selections.
Sustainability isn’t difficult to understand. It’s even easier to embrace. All of us are players in this production and consumption of goods that make for our nutritional makeup. The concept of preservation, self-preservation for that matter, is what the cycle of renewal and reuse is all about. It’s really about connecting the “what” with the “how.” It’s about personal accountability for the decisions that we make. Sustainability is what organic farming promotes as a way of life. It’s about recognizing and rewarding those that play a role in the unbroken cycle from crop to cup.
Take Specialty grade Arabica beans for instance: this higher altitude, perfectly ripened coffee cherry delivers a complexity and thumbprint only available from the smaller farmer. At altitudes of 3500 feet and higher, the Arabica variety undergoes a slower maturation process which lends itself to more fully developed, seasonally rich flavor profiles. Unlike the Robusta variety, which thrive at lower altitudes and comprise the majority of lesser commercial grade beans, the Arabica farms know that lesser primary defects means more dollars from the quality driven importer. Since high volume production isn’t part of the equation for the smaller estate grower, a more “hands on” approach becomes operative. Chemicals and pesticides are not cheap, so the “steroid” approach to farming appeals only to those interested in quantity over quality. Now that organic farming is being recognized and rewarded at the coffee source, the incentive for smaller growers to continue measures in sustainability is helping to stabilize the specialty grade coffee market. And we get to enjoy their hard work.
The difficulty we’ve witnessed as a micro-roaster is one of designation and promotion. It’s the old supply-demand argument that business school hammers into the psyche of its pupils. If the marketplace doesn’t ask questions about the “how” and “effect” behind the products we buy, then the tendency for big companies is to lean towards low-cost, low maintenance systems of delivery. For years there has existed an unrecognized stable of growers that employed organic farming practices. The problem for most continues to be one of economic balance between grower and buyer. In the last two years, we have witnessed a renaissance in consumer awareness that is driving the organic and fair trade efforts at an unprecedented pace. Farmers are being heralded for their efforts and rewarded monetarily. The bigger retailers are taking notice of YOU, and what you are asking for in the cup.
Fourteen years ago, I began our business in my kitchen with a small batch roaster and one bag of organic Costa Rican green bean. Beautiful, consistent green bean, roasted perfectly without bitterness, was the goal then and now. From that one bag dream, Ryan Bros. now micro-roasts in excess of 300,000 pounds, representing the world’s finest small estate and organic offerings.
Ryan Bros. Coffee is located in San Diego, California (www.ryanbroscoffee.com). Harry Ryan is the Roast Master with brothers Tom and Carmine. Parents Tom and Helena also participate daily. Contact harry@ryanbroscoffee.com.
La Botte Piccola is a small Italian travel company specializing in tours with a focus on natural winemaking and gourmet pleasures. Currently they are offering a tour of six winemakers in Tuscany and a gastronmic experience in Alto Adige with Michelin star chef Alessandro Gilmozzi from El Molin in Cavalese.
Visit www.labottepiccola.net to find out more.
