Why Drink Organic Wine?

I first tried organic wine when my wife used to have an allergic reaction every time we would eat out. Her throat would swell slightly and would get these little bumps on her tongue. For years we thought it was just food allergies and couldn't pin it down to what it was. We only found out after a surgery when the doctor prescribed a medication containing sulfites and she had the same reaction. It was like a light bulb that went off and we realized wine was loaded with sulfites.

Sulfites Are the culprits to many food allergies as many companies use them to give their product a longer shelf life and wine is no exception. By adding sulfer dioxide to the wine it makes it last longer and winery owners love this. Non organically grown grapes can retain the chemicals that come from pesticides, what the wineries fail to see is that the pesticides are killing their vines slowly. many wineries are starting to abandon this way of growing grapes to preserve their vines.

In order for a wine to be considered organic it must be made with grapes that are grown by certified organic methods with no chemical pesticides. While all wines that are fermented will have some sulfites, organic wine contains about 40 parts per million and other wines can have as much as 400 parts per million. This is a huge difference for people that have allergies to sulfites. Typically red wine has the lowest levels of sulfites followed by white wines then champagne and sweet wines will have the most. By purchasing organic you significantly lower the amounts of sulfites. Once we started drinking organic wine my wife has never had an allergic reaction.

Organic wineries are popping up all over the world and we didn't have to give up our enjoyment of visiting wineries. We just map out our organic wineries and away we go. Just do a search on the internet for organic wines and you'll find many options as many wineries are reverting back to the traditional way of making wine, just like it was done hundreds of years ago. Below are some choices you have when going organic.

Frey Vinyards in Mendocino, CA - This is one of the first certified organic wineries and features some red and white organic wines starting around $8 / bottle.

Bonterra Vinyards in Ukiah, CA - Starting at around $11 per bottle Bonterra offers a full line of organic wines and is one of my favorites.

Ceago Winery in Nice, CA - This is a premium organic winery and prices start a bit higher starting at about $16 per bottle and up.

Old World Winery in Windsor, CA - They produce wine using the historic methods such as using native yeast to ferment.

These are only a few and there are hundreds to choose from. These wineries styles are popping up all over the world and you now have more choices than ever.