Be Careful When Purchasing Organic Wines

You’ve probably noticed an increasing amount of space being dedicated to organic fruits and vegetables at your grocer. Wines made from organically grown grapes are also rising in popularity, and as they continue to claim more space in the wine section it’s important to know the specifics behind them.

The USDA sets the standard for what is considered an organic wine. The standards define these wines as those made from organically grown grapes and allow for sulfites up to a maximum level of no more than 100 parts per million. A certain amount of sulfites occur naturally in grapes and additional sulfites can be added to the wine to discourage oxidation – as long as they don’t exceed the maximum. Provided the wine meets this standard it can be labeled, “Made with Organic Grapes.”

Now here’s where the problem comes in. Just because a label contains the phrase “Made with Organic Grapes” doesn’t insure that 100 percent of the grapes in the bottle were organic. In fact, a percentage of the grapes can also be inorganic or the wine can contain other non-organic products. So if you’re a stickler for purchasing a purely organic wine, take note.

How then, do you determine if a wine is truly organic? Go to the source. I started with a pretty good web site – www.travelenvoy.com/wine/organicwines and clicked on the links to the wineries listed. From there I found more information about the percentage of organic grapes used in the wines each winery produces.