Is getting organic wine delivered to your door with the rest of your organic food is a dream or reality?

Getting organic wine is hard, because many local bottle shops do not carry any range of organic wines let alone organic food retailers.

I just wonder where all this organic wines are sold at?

Well, I got the chance to speak with few of winemakers at the organic expo, and I have asked them this exact question, most of them almost had the same answer: ”direct!”

70% of Australian organic wines are sold directly to consumers. This is a large percentage comparing it with the European and the US wine market.

However, this does not come without its limitations. Organic wine is expensive and one of the main reasons is the limited supply of organic wines and wineries in Australia.

One winery is reported that they sold all their wines each year via their wine club and newsletters. They did not have enough wine to supply all of their customers and each year their customers are increasingly buying more than what they can produce.

Is a good problem to have? For business is great, for wine lovers it’s a deferent story!

Unlike their counterparts, conventional wines, they find it harder and harder to sell their wines, because of the continued growth of wineries and the ever increasing of competition. Maybe it’s about time they consider adopting the organic way.

And I thought organic food was hard to get!

I would love to see an organic food retailer with a liquor license. This would make life so much easier. But finding organic food in Sydney that has a delivery service and a liquor license is almost impossible, because of the cost of the license it self.

I buy my organic food online from one company, and my organic wine from a deferent company!

I have also asked this question to a number of organic food home delivery companies and their answer was: “we do not have a liquor license!”

How hard would it be to get a liquor license? Well, I don’t personally know, I just drink it. But wouldn’t be good to be able to buy your weekly shopping and have it delivered with your favorite Shiraz or Rose. Only time will tell.

Let’s hope in the next couple of years, the organic food industry will expand to include a larger verity of products including Alcoholic beverages like wine and beer, like most of the European countries.

In the mean time, get on that wine list, and buy it direct like “almost” everyone else.

Any thought and ideas, please let me know. I would really love to hear from wineries or you if you do buy your wine direct.

Nowadays, people around the world are making their own wine. It’s a fun way to enjoy a particular type of fruit wine that you may not normally find in your local wine shop. Many folks who decide to try winemaking, experience the pride of serving their own bouquet to friends, family, and neighbors.

With home wine making you can be assured of the wine’s ingredients.  With all the confusion today over organic, biodynamic, and semi-organic wines, you’re never quite sure what you’re getting. If you decide to make organic wine from home, you know exactly how your grapes were grown, and what kind of preservatives and sulfites were added in the winemaking process.

When you make wine from scratch, you have several choices about how to get your grapes.  You can grow them yourself, which can take years, and require lots of work.  You can buy organic grapes from a vineyard, which is less effort, but may not give you the full satisfaction of the complete winemaking process.  And, lastly you can buy grape concentrates which may not yield the flavor you were looking for.

Home wine makers can add various ingredients to enhance the flavor of the grapes, to create a higher alcohol content, and to preserve the freshness of the wine and prevent oxidation. You can ferment grape juice in its own yeast, but most wine makers don’t want to take the chance.

You can also choose to add sugar or honey to grapes with lower sugar content. Some home winemakers add wood chips to get the woody flavor without storing the wine in wood barrels for long periods of time. And of course, every organic wine maker must ask him or herself whether to add sulfites, and if so how much. 

Sulfites prevent oxidation and spoiling of the wine.  But most wines that are certified organics are limited in the amount of sulfites that can be added in the wine making process. The fermentation process naturally creates sulfites, so you’ll need to be careful in your assessment.

If you want to make your own wine without all the hassle, you can buy home winemaking kits that include grape concentrate, yeast, nutrients, and preservatives, as well as the basic equipment you’ll need like a bucket, carboy, hydrometer, a siphon, and corks.  Some kits come with organic ingredients and limited additives.  These kits usually only require adding water and sugar. So they are handy, and come in several different wine types including Chardonnay, Reisling, Sherry, Port, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chianti, Merlot, Shiraz, and White Zinfandel.

All kits come with some sort of wine making instructions, and will generally yield a good bottle of wine in about three weeks.

With the movement towards organic winemaking, regular people are challenging themselves to get back to nature and to create a wine that is rich, flavorful, and aromatic without compromising the holistic values of organics.

Sulfite free organic wine does not exist in nature.  It’s physically impossible.  But, organic wines low in sulfites or no-sulfites-added organic wines are becoming more popular in some circles.  There is a movement in the organic wine making industry that wants to rid wine of added sulfites. Why? It’s a chemical preservative. But let’s look at what it actually does.

What are Sulfites?

Sulfites are typically added during winemaking to prevent bacterial growth and oxidation. In sulfite-free wine, no sulfites can be added to the wine during the winemaking process, although they are naturally produced in the fermentation process. So, there is technically no such thing as a sulfite-free organic wine.

These days non-organic winemakers have often overused them to mask odors from the wine or a poor quality crop of grapes. Sulfites have been linked to headaches, respiratory problems, rashes, and other allergic reactions. The sulfites that are added cause these allergic reactions, whereas the naturally occurring sulfites usually cause no side effects. 

The biggest complaint about sulfites is the side effect of headaches.  While added sulfites can cause headaches, naturally occurring tannins released from the skins of the grapes are more likely the cause of headaches. But people are unsure and no conclusive testing has been done to demonstrate the harmful side effects of sulfites. So for now, organic proponents will say that if it isn’t naturally occurring, it shouldn’t be added.

What about Organic Wine and Sulfites?

Organic wine has no added sulfites, but sulfites are a naturally occurring result of fermentation, coming from the skin of the grapes. So, organic wines must maintain a level of sulfites less than 100 parts per million (ppm), as opposed to the 350 ppm limit for non-organic wine makers.

If you are concerned with added sulfites, you should be aware that European wines have significantly more sulfites than American wines. Also, white wines need twice the sulfites red wines do.

Taste of Sulfite-Free Wines

Many people have complained over the years about the taste of wines with no added sulfites. This is what has prevented organic wines from flying off the shelves.  But organic vineyards are doing better with this. 

Although sulfite-free wines have a brown tint to them, organic wine lovers are touting the rich, true flavor of the wine when no sulfites are added. But, still others will swear that sulfite-free wine tastes like battery acid.

Since wine tasting is such a personal thing, only you can decide if you like the flavor of truly organic wine with no added sulfites. Many times the good organics never get to the wine shop shelves, but can be found at local restaurants and wineries.  Since the nature of sulfite free wine is that it cannot sit for long periods of time without some spoilage, these untainted bouquets may never be for mass consumption.

The concept of organic wine refers to grapes grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, and no other chemical additives to the wine. But, when you wander through the wine shop for organic wines you may be confused by the different levels of “organic” found on the labels.

When the label says “100% Organic” this means that the wines are made from certified organic grapes and no sulfites have been added in its creation. This is the most pure form of wine possible.

If you see “Organic Wine” on the label then 95% of the wine’s ingredients are certified organic. The other 5% is usually yeast.

American organic wine
labels that have the words “made from organically grown grapes” or “organically grown” means the vineyards have complied with the organic certifying agency of the state in which the wine was made. These wines may have sulfites added though.

French organic wines
may be labeled as such without certification.  If you are looking for a certification from the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) you may find a stamp from Eco-Cert, Terre et Vie, or Nature et Progrés on the label.

The whole organic movement is spreading around the world in an effort to get back to the natural properties of foods and to avoid the chemicals that cause health issues. In fact, organic wines have become more popular in Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, and the U.S. over the last few years.  And, while many vineyards are following organic standards and using sustainable agriculture, using environmentally friendly techniques, some large vineyards have decided not to get certified.\

Why not get the wines certified organic? Because it’s a lot of hassle for vineyards. And, which organization should they get certified with?  Since there is no centralized international organic wine certification, the rules are different with each certification.  Organically certified wine is such a new issue, the regulations for determining a truly organic wine is changing all the time. This can be expensive for vineyards to comply with an ever moving target.

Sulfites in Wine

Sulfur dioxide is added to wine in small amounts to maintain freshness and prevent oxidation. When the sulfur dioxide dissolves in the wine, it destroys impurities and creates sulfites. Some people have allergies to sulfites and experience headaches.

Organic wine has no added sulfites, but sulfites are a naturally occurring result of fermentation, coming from the skin of the grapes. So organic wines must maintain a level of sulfites less than 100 parts per million (ppm).

If you are concerned with added sulfites, you should be aware that European wines have significantly more sulfites than American wines. Also, white wines need twice the sulfites red wines do.

Benefits of Organic Wine

Organic wines are made with no added chemicals or preservatives.  This makes for a healthier wine.  But for wine lovers it also means a richer tasting wine, in which the full flavor of the fruit can be enjoyed.