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Oregon and Washington Wine Experts Since 1988 |
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-Salmon Safe, LIVE, Organic Wines
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Organic wines are widely available from Oregon and Washington. Biodynamically farmed, Salmon Safe, Tilth certified, and sustainable agriculture are other classifications for Oregon wines made to provide an ecologically aware product. An increasing number of Oregon and Washington wineries are growing their grapes using organic methods. The list of certified organic vineyards and wineries continues to grow.
Brick House Vineyards has pioneered organic grape growing and winemaking in th read more
MORE INFORMATIONOrganic wines are widely available from Oregon and Washington. Biodynamically farmed, Salmon Safe, Tilth certified, and sustainable agriculture are other classifications for Oregon wines made to provide an ecologically aware product. An increasing number of Oregon and Washington wineries are growing their grapes using organic methods. The list of certified organic vineyards and wineries continues to grow.
Brick House Vineyards has pioneered organic grape growing and winemaking in the Pacific Northwest. The wines are rich, lushly textured, and very cellar worthy. Here is a fascinating article from the Brick House web site, that illuminates owner Doug Tunnell's commitment and depth of knowledge of the "Organic" issue. "Organics" Time: Early 1990. True enough, there was a time when scars and bruises just about the only things that distinguished "organic" produce. But over the last ten years teams of growers, scientists, grocers, marketers, federal and state officials have been hammering out precise criteria for any product that claims the organic label. They are now putting the finishing touches on national standards and procedures that define "organically grown" right down to the last syllable in any new chemical's name. It is all about truth in labeling and the consumer; a guarantee that if the label says it's an organically grown product, the consumer can rest assured it was grown in a particular way...that it has been exposed to a precisely defined regime of substances and handling...and that records exist to prove it .A single, consistent
body of global standards is taking shape. For some years now there
has been a network of monitors;
inspectors who walk the world's fields, farms, orchards and plantations
and who work to ensure that "organic" means the same thing
in Connecticut as in Costa Rica.
The current edition of the standards and procedures manual of the oldest certifying agency in Oregon grew from 50 pages in 1994 to 129 pages in 1998, not counting subsequent updates on new products and processes. A corresponding, on-line index of brand name products approved for organic producers is growing exponentially. In order to market any produce-- including winegrapes-- as "organically grown" all operations in the vineyard must comply with the practices outlined in the standards manual. All sprays and fertilizers, even the material used for trellis posts must be within the guidelines. It is not that farming a certified organic vineyard is any more difficult than its conventional counterpart. But it is a very different project, requiring a distinctly different mind set. Here in the Willamette Valley we are blessed with bountiful rain, and cursed by aggressive grasses and unwanted weeds that thrive as a result. Our moist climate presents the challenge of fungal diseases every season. The organic growers combats these with old fashioned sprays...principly sulfur in its various forms and applied in precise quantities at the correct moments. Every year special attention is given to cover crops. We vary them, planting crimson clover one year, Austrian winter pea and oats the next. All are eventually incorporated into the soil to add a rich mixture of nitrogen, other important nutrients and organic matter on an annual basis. There is little doubt about the importance of soil health for farmers everywhere. But for grape growers there is emerging evidence that soil health may be an issue of life and death. A growing body of research indicates that the roots of organically farmed grapes are less vulnerable than those of conventionally grown vines to the pathogens that prey upon grape roots in the wake of a phyloxerra infestation (see Lotter, Granett &Omer, HortScience 34(6) 1999) Further the researchers hypothesize that the use of certain herbicides may contribute to the conventionally farmed grape roots vulnerability. We are at a point in history when some of the Pacific Northwest's most vital watersheds are in jeopardy. Non-point pollution from agricultural runoff accounts for more than 50% of the pollutants in the Willamette River above Portland. A recent U.S. Geological Survey of river samples found residues from 29 herbicides and 7 insecticides basin wide. Nitrate levels and water temperature exceeded state standards in a number of locations. The waters of the Willamette basin were once one of the world's greatest inland salmon spawning grounds. While the pulp mills and industrial sites along the river's banks are fairly closely monitored today, farm runoff is not. It accounts for up to 60 % of the pollutants in the Willamette and its tributaries. As one extension agent who has worked in the Willamette Valley for many years told a group of food industry leaders in 1998, " Everyone agrees more sustainable farming is where we are going...it's just a question of how we are going to get there." For the valley's grape growers, we believe the question really isn't " Why organic ?" The question is " Why not?" |
