100% of California wines tested in this study includes:
7 total wines and only 3 organic wines
But what does organic wine really mean?
Believe it or not, the USA has stricter Organic standards than the EU (with a caveat)
That being that there aren't many wines in the US that qualify as Organic because in addition to needing any added yeast or sugar to be organic, a winemaker can't add any sulfites at all.
This doesn't really change what else can be added to the wine though. If you get a bad reaction from any fermentation agents, non-sulfite preservatives, acidity adjusters, fining agents or stabilizers, you're not necessarily off the hook here.
Instead of labeling their wine Organic, most American producers will use "Made with Organic Grapes"
This is more in line with EU Organic wine regulations.
Up to 100 ppm Sulfur is allowed (2/3 of what is allowed in conventional wine) and 2/3 of the 70+ allowed wine additives can be used as well.
If you're looking for the Organic label on wine, I think its a good first step, but it's not as great as most think.
The restrictions are mostly at the grower level.
Important, but the things giving you a headache are being added in the cellar.
There's no real way to verify what goes into a wine without directly talking to the winemaker so, unfortunately, finding a wine that leaves you feeling clean afterwards instead of cloudy or with a headache tends to be a trial and error discovery process.
The best thing I can say is to find a local winery, meet the winemaker and ask questions. If they get weird about it, they're hiding something.
There is no recipe to protect in winemaking.
If you don't have a local winemaker, I make Low-Intervention wine in the mountains of Colorado.
I only use 20 ppm Sulfur with no other additives.
I don't certify my grapes as organic, but I grow them that way.
After drinking Peony Lane, you will feel clean.
