Organic Wine Update

Just a quick update on the two wines I recently reviewed - each bottle was stored in my refrigerator on Thursday evening, and on Saturday I was shocked to find each was harboring small colonies of bacteria on the top of the wine. The splotches aren't really clear enough to take photos, but they are visible when looking through the bottle in person. Just a reminder then that organic wines, or wines that don't have stabilizers added to them should be opened and drunk immediately. I'm going to give both a couple more days to see what they do, as I'm intrigued by such rapid growth, especially in a cold place like the fridge!

Also, I should clarify a little more than I did in my post about the "sulfite issue." While I did make note that sulfites are naturally occurring, there is a whole body of regulations surrounding labeling a wine for sulfite content. If no sulfites are added, or the present natural levels are below a certain amount (parts per million) or are "undetectable" then the wine can be labeled a variety of ways. "Sulfite free," "No sulfites detectable," or "No added sulfites" are all ones I've seen. Each statement is governed by some level of regulation that I personally can not speak about in much depth, but the links included in my last post will provide good starting points for any of you that are curious to learn more.

What I do know though is that the concept of sulfites as a bad thing is more than likely misunderstood by many consumers. Some people may have legitimate allergies, though I think more often than not sulfites are used as a scapegoat. If you think you might be allergic to sulfites think back to the last time you had any sort of dried fruit - these usually contain more sulfites in a single serving than a whole bottle of average red wine.

I've certainly not written off wines that fall into the organic camp though - I picked up a bottle of Zinfandel made with organically grown grapes that I'm anxious to try. Also, check back soon for posts about picking ice wine grapes in NE Ohio and on a dry Muscat from France's Bordeaux region

Cheers!