Finding Wine

I've talked previously about organic wine, and I promised to report back with any findings. And I am happy to say I have good news! Last night, we journeyed to the Brix Wine Shop in the South End here in Boston. We discovered this wonderfully aesthetic wine shop during an online search for organic wine sellers in the area.

As luck would have it, Brix had a wine tasting yesterday that featured domestic wines, including a couple of organics! Alright, now we're talkin'.

After the tasting, we took home a few of our favorites. Most impressive on the organic front was the wine from Cooper Mountain Vineyards. The vineyard grows organic grapes, processes the wine in a certified organic winery, and, not surprisingly, this produces certified organic wine. In fact, the wine steward also assured us that the label on the bottle is made from 100% recycled paper. Cooper Mountain Vineyards even takes the next step beyond simple organic certification. They practice what they call biodynamic farming, and they claim this type of farming is healthier for the soil and the environment and of course the end product!

Clearly this is a bottle of organic wine, but I'm not sure that you'd be able to identify the wine as organic from the taste. The Pinor Noir we bought is just outstanding. Secondly, the bottle doesn't exactly promote "organic." Are typical wine snobs turned off by the idea of organic wine? Perhaps. This would explain the lack of overt advertising on the bottle itself. I actually had to ask the steward, "how do I know this bottle is organic wine?" It turns out there is some small print on the back that says the word "organic," but clearly they are not trumpeting the fact.

This brings me to the second lesson of the evening: it is not always easy to spot the organic wines. You have to ask, and you have to read the labels. In the world of wines, consumers are looking for a lot of things, and organic doesn't seem to be at the top of the list. At the same time, it seems like such a natural progression for wine connoisseurs--organic wine is by definition going to be wine that is cared for from the grape to the cork. There is no reason to assume that "organic" is a pejorative when it comes to wine.

I hope that eventually there will be an intersection of the two ideas: organic wine and great wine. It seems like a natural convergence. Right now, however, you have to look to find your organic wine. They don't make it easy.

Nonetheless, I will continue to search out and buy organic wine whenever possible. Hopefully my consumer dollar goes to the right vineyards, and organics become more prevalent and more popular. And of course, if I find any more winners like Cooper Mountain, you'll hear about them here.