How can we love 'em (i.e. organic wines) when stores & restaurants won't help us know what is what?

Gosh, I hate to break up the spate of enthusiastic Murphy-Goode-related posts (ah, the Wine Country Correspondent job!), but why not, since it's about wanting to know more about organic wines and appreciating a greener lifestyle. Basically: how can we appreciate vinous organics more when stores don't merchandise them as such, and restaurants can't be bothered to notate them on wine lists?

One thing we do know: like organic foods twenty, thirty years ago, wines produced in organic, Biodynamic®, as well as vegan and sustainable fashions are emerging out of the fringe elements of commercial taste, and becoming more significant by the day. Like all wines, they give us pleasure as alcoholic beverages, make our food taste better, and sweeten our outlook on life. But exactly what, besides health and environmental issues, is the big deal about them?

First and foremost: organic and biodynamically produced wines have the tendency to distill purer expressions of grape and terroir by the very nature in which they are made; that is to say, mucked up as little as possible, flavors evolved through natural interaction of sunlight, soil and canopy as opposed to being pumped up by chemical fertilizers (although granted, no self-respecting vigneron grows grapes strictly for yield or lower quality, and on the West Coast at least at least 90% of vineyards are now being farmed sustainably, with or without organic certifications).

If anything, the supernova speed in which the world of wine has expanded in recent years has resulted in the inevitable: a boring, dreary sameness. Twenty years ago it was assembly line Chardonnay and White Zinfandel, fifteen years ago industrialized Merlot, and during the past decade or so the proliferation of just-another- Cabernet and Shiraz, Syrah, schmiraz… one after another, all tasting the same.

Among organic and Biodynamic® wines, however, there is a tendency towards uniqueness rather than sameness. When you grow and make wine from the premise of exerting the least amount of intervention that might blur the distinctions of grape and site, you almost cannot help but produce something different, even "better," almost every time. And if there is anything a highly competitive specialty wine store or restaurant is concerned about, it is finding wines of truly unique, and finer, attributes, reflective of grape and terroir.

MERCHANDISING ORGANIC WINES

So to the question of whether there should be a *special* place for organic wines in stores and restaurants: whether retailers or restaurateurs realize it or not, these wines already play an important part in the wine world because many of the world’s finest winemakers already produce their wine that way.

Yet it's still a rare retailer who is even aware of the fact that, say, Rubicon is CCOF organically certified, or that Grgich Hills and Chapoutier grow biodynamically. Heck, it's still a rare wine list that tells you if a wine is even dry or sweet, let alone organic or vegan.

So for retailers and restaurateurs, the first steps towards merchandising to organic-conscious customers or guests would be to:

1. Either group organic as well as Biodynamic® and vegan wines into their own sections, or at least clearly distinguish them on the shelves or wine lists.

2. Take a pro-active stance towards sourcing alternative choices of organic, Biodynamic® and vegan wines of higher quality (i.e. the ultra-premiums, like Marcel Deiss, Vacheron, Leflaive, Lageder, Beckmen, King Estate, Quivira, Maysara, Bergstrom, etc.), rather than just the "usual suspects" (like Fetzer, Bonterra, etc.)

3. Do their sourcing based upon an intelligent measure of their clientele (if, for instance, a large number of your customers are also high percentage organic food consumers – particularly those who buy from upscale retail stores like Whole Foods, Balducci’s, or Dean & Deluca – then it would make sense to put a stronger emphasis on high quality organic wines).

4. When merchandising organics, perform the duty of explicating the basic distinctions among the various, often overlapping categories, even if troublesome or "confusing." Why? Because more and more people want to know!

Re the point #4, these are the basic categories under which most organic wines fall:

Wines Made from Organic Grapes
These are wines made from grapes farmed completely without the use of pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizers, soil fumigants, or other chemicals. In the U.S. certified organic grapes must meet standards established by the USDA’s National Organic Program. In California even stricter standards are set by California Certified Organic Farms (CCOF); stipulating requirements such as no bio-engineering or iodizing radiation, and encouraging the use of composting, cover cropping and beneficial insects.

Organic Wines
Organic wines not only must be made from 100% organically grown grapes, they must also be vinified totally without the use of added sulfites. The USDA’s NOP (National Organic Program) specifies that even naturally occurring sulfites (found in every wine, organic or not) must be under 10 parts per million.

Wines Made from Biodynamic® Grapes
Biodynamic® wines are not only farmed organically, they must meet even higher standards of sustainability by following specified preparations that help connect the “dynamic” relationship between everything in the universe, biological and spiritual. Most of these principles are based upon the homeopathic farming methods established by an Austrian philosopher named Rudolf Steiner in the 1920s; and today, certified internationally by The Worldwide Demeter Association (in the U.S., by the Demeter USA). While many aspects of Biodynamic® viticulture (like the burying of manure stuffed cow horns in the vineyard) might seem strange, contemporary proponents are very comfortable with most of its practicalities; such as use of on-site produced compost and manure, the emphasis on ecosystem diversity, incorporation of animal life, and even cultivation according to “natural” cycles (i.e. solar and lunar calendars).

Biodynamic® Wines
In the U.S., Biodynamic® wines are not only grown 100% biodynamically, they are also vinified by Demeter’s highest bio-standards: defined primarily by use of natural (rather than cultured) yeasts, zero additives (like sugar, tannin and acid “adjustments,” and bacteria to start malolactic fermentation), and restricted use of sulfites at bottling (for dry wines, less than 100 parts per million).

Vegan Wines
Wines meeting Vegan standards must be vinified without the use of animal products; particularly filtering and fining agents such as egg whites, casein (a milk protein used to soften wine), gelatin (removes bitter phenolics) and isinglass (derived from fish swimbladders). Instead, Vegan wines are typically clarified by non-animal products like bentonite clay.

Now is that so hard?