"Natural" Wines

[lperry]

I just got around to reading my May issue of Bon Appétit and thought this article was interesting. It seems to run counter to articles I have read in the past that indicated some wineries that run certified organic operations do not advertise themselves as such because they feel it might put them in a limited, niche market.

[deangold]

A huge number of wineries following the natural methods do not get organically certified. And there are more that do not practice organic farming strictly according to the regs, but may use an as needed application of a chemical to avoid a total crop loss or damage to the vines.

But with so much wine being made with "Real Red" & "Real Purple", acidulations, sugar additions, additives of every sort, "fermentation nutrients," the winemaking process used predominantly today is more industrial than artisan. Joseph Phelps was one of the first to use spinning cones to "knock" out alcohol atoms from their overripe grapes and use them in the high end wines {which are marketed as hand crafted rarities instead of an industrial product} Other wineries may freeze crushed must {trucking down the crushed grapes to food processing plants} to remove water and concentrate the wines in poor, rain affected vintages. Caymus did this as far back as 1979. The list goes on and on.

The list of minimalist, anti technology winemakers grown every day. Donkey and the Goat is my favorite from California and anything with a Louis/Dressner imports label on it is worth a shot.

[lperry]

Do you or anyone else happen to know how it came to be that wine and spirits are among those products that are not required to have labels listing ingredients? I can turn any other packaged food over and see exactly what's in it, but the back of a wine label will give me a blurb from the winery about flavor or pairings.

[lperry]

Consulted The Google. Bizarre, yet typical somehow.