Tonya Kay is an actress, TV personality, professional dancer and danger artist living in Los Angeles. A vegetarian of 28 years, vegan for 18 of those and raw vegan for the last 11, Tonya Kay pioneers the green health movement with appearances, publications and green media (available at 
| Organic, Biodynamic and Sustainable Eco Wines, Part 2: Certified Organic Wine |
| Tuesday, 24 January 2012 | Tonya Kay | Blog Entry |
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Organic Wines A certified organic wine must not have added sulfites (a naturally occurring antimicrobial and antioxidant byproduct of fermentation, which is also often added afterward as a preservative), and the naturally occurring sulfites must measure less than 20 parts per million. Additionally, there are some wine-making ingredients not approved for organic labeling by the NOSB. Hence, it is easier today to certify pop tarts than wine as organic. And so, actual certified organic wine is extremely rare. Frey and Organic Wine Works are two certified organic wines. Throughout all of my tasting experiences, I do not know of any others. Organic Wine Works was notably the first wine maker to challenge the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and become the exception to the then-regulation that no finished wine could be labeled organic. Before the NOP was created, the ATF was the regulating agency. Organic Vineyards The organic certification is awarded to vineyards for upholding familiar organic farming methods, which include abstaining from most conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge, bioengineering and ionizing radiation. Long-term soil management, distance between organic and neighboring conventional farms, the facility's cleaning and pest-control methods, and ingredient transportation and storage are inspected as well. How to Read the Labels The vintners will often display their farm's organic certification in their tasting room, information literature or in a paragraph or two on their website. Once you know that a vineyard is certified organic, remember to read the wine’s label to make sure the bottle you are drinking was produced from the certified organic vineyard’s grapes. Often wine makers will supplement their own vineyard’s production by purchasing grapes grown on other growers’ parcels, which may or may not be certified. For example, I am holding a bottle of Madonna 2008 Gewürztraminer (signed by the winemaker, Buck, himself!) that says Estate Grown on the label. Since I know Madonna vineyards are certified organic, I know that this wine—grown, produced and bottled on the estate—is made from organic grapes (plus it says “ingredients: organically grown grapes” on the back). However, this bottle of Ampelos 2006 Syrache-blend made from Byron and Alisos vineyard grapes is not necessarily made with organically grown grapes, even though Ampelos is the only vineyard I know of to hold all three certifications—organic, biodynamic and sustainable. Hopefully, this information will steer you in the right direction. Obviously, there are other questions to ask and other things to learn when searching for the most delicious, health-promoting and eco-consciously produced wine. See Part 1: An Introduction to Eco-Friendly Wine Certifications Additional resources: [Sign up to be notified each time Tonya publishes a new Clean and Green Everyday blog entry on EcoHearth. And see a complete list of writing by Tonya Kay on EcoHearth.com or visit her Clean and Green Everyday blog. – Ed.] Help the Earth, Spread the Word: Share this article with family and friends by clicking on the "Email This" or "Share This" links below right. Then see TODAY'S TOP STORIES.
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(9)
Written by Steve the Kaleidoscope Guy , January 24, 2012
Good organic, bio-dynamic, sustainable wine is a good familiar creature, if it be well used. - Shakespeare
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Written by Lipofuze , October 02, 2010
Awesome post ,All the given information is so informative for us ,I really appreciated from your information.
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I will bookmark it,and sharing it with my friends.Thanks.
Written by Tonya Kay , January 25, 2010
Oh, how exciting! Thanks for the certified organic WINE recommendations, Michael. I had no idea that wine grapes were grown in Chino, CA, but you bet I'll be making that short, one hour trip from LA soon to taste for myself. And it looks like Larocca also does organic sparkling wine which is very rare indeed.
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I was just tasting in Mendicino this weekend. I visited Husch because they boated Gewürztraminer, one of my favorite grapes, and some sustainable, organic, and fish friendly practices. Although uncertified, I believed, when speaking with our pourer, Natalie (because you could tell she knew a lot about it!), that they did indeed practice what they said, even though they are uncertified. They had three Gewürztraminers, which were really fun to taste back to back. What a versitile grape! I will surely check out Coturi too. I just saw that label as certified organic WINE in While Foods last week - serendipity! I'm a wino that doesn't purchase off of the shelves, but only after tasting at tasting rooms, so I'm glad you mention it is up in Sonoma. This histamine talk is all new to me. Previously, I, like many, thought sulfites the big culprit. Seems I do have a sensitivity to sulfites, but perhaps there are more factors to the "wine headache" than just these sulfites. By the way, I never get wine headaches and I feel it's mostly because I drink naturally produced wine and twice as much water DURING drinking as wine. Water is the great diluter and cleanser! Common sense, that one. Any more insight experts and adepts and enthusiasts wish to share is openly encouraged - I love it!
Written by Michael Penn , January 25, 2010
Hi Tonya. Very nice article, I had two points to add to the discussion. In expansion of Rebecca's comments on histamines, histamines are indeed an allergen to many, personal sensitivity is the key. They belong to a family of compounds called the biogenic amines. In wine, they are made by bacteria that eat the acids in wine during the secondary fermentation, as well as spoilage microbes. This may be why some people get headaches from red wine and not white, because this microbial growth is prevented in many white wines.
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One study out there shows that the levels of histamine are so low, that they could not be the culprit of headaches. The jury is still out, as we don't know if there are synergisitic effects going on with other biogenic amines. Two other organic (no sulfite) producers to try are Larocca Vineyards in Chico, CA, and Coturi and Sons, out of Sonoma County. Cheers.
Written by Tonya Kay , January 20, 2010
To all: I am a member of Ampelo's wine club! Ampelos (http://www.ampeloscellars.com/) is one of the wines you want to drink, people you want to support and businesses you want to see thrive.
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Rebecca, thank you for adding more insider information on sulfites. This is a wonderful education! I'm going to reiterate for those who get headaches from wine, thinking it was the sulfites: to avoid headaches, drink white wines, take an antihistamine (which as a raw vegan I personally won't be doing) and can I add something too: drink two glasses of water after every glass of wine. So the skin bumps I get are likely an allergic reaction to sulfites. I feel it. The water helps there, as well as purchasing naturally produced wines - this is my experience. Thanks for your insight!
Written by rebecca work , January 20, 2010
nicely done article regarding the difference with organically made wines and organically grown. I am part of the ampelos team and my husband and I have done a lot of studing in regards to sulfites. There are a few other facts that most are not aware of:
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- there are actually more sulfites in a glass of orange juice then typically in a bottle of wine. - sulfites are not the cause of headaches. It is believed the cause is histamines which is naturally on the skins. White wines do not stay on the skins very long and so will not cause the headaches. You can take an anti-histamine if you want to drink red wines to avoid the headache. - some folks are alergic to sulfites and if so, will get rashes from it. - sulfites over time do reduce because they continue to bind with oxygen even in the bottle therefore the old the wine the less the sulfites. The problem is many wineries are releasing their wines very young.
Written by Tonya Kay , January 19, 2010
You are welcome! It's been a journey digging up information for myself, so I know how hard it is for other vegans, health advocates, and green consumers as well. I'll continue writing about what I've learned. In this entry, though, the most important point is learning the difference between certified organic WINE and certified organic VINEYARDS. There are not many of the former and a massively growing number of the latter. If sulfites are your focus, certified organic WINE is the lowest and has only the naturally occurring sulfites. And what I've found about certified organic (as well as biodynamic) VINEYARDS is that the wines produced from these organic crops tend to be produced in a much more natural way, with fewer sulfites added, though sulfites still added. Conventional wines and vineyards tend to be a nitemare regarding sulfites and I personally get a hangover as well as little bumbs on my skin from drinking them!
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Written by Steve the kaleidoscope guy , January 19, 2010
Thanks for helping me navigate my way through the quagmire of misinformation on wine. I've wanted to cut back on the added sulfites. Up to now it's been "I read drinking was bad for you so I stopped reading".
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Tonya and Dionysus the Greek God of wine and ecstasy rock!
Written by Joanna Steven , January 19, 2010
wow, you are a goldmine of information! Thank you for these very informative articles!
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Currently, there are three ecologically important certifications vintners can achieve: organic, biodynamic and sustainable. We are all familiar with the organic certification standards for produce and prepared foods regulated by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), in accordance with the Organic Food and Production Act (OFPA), with standards set by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), administered by the National Organic Program (NOP)…oh, my. 
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