by Terence Baker |
April 01, 2006
Vines and vistas:
The Coturri Estate Vineyard
A typical organic wine tasting by New York
City-based expert Evan Spingarn will last two hours and will
include up to six courses, each paired with wine. “In the last
three years, I noticed a rise in interest in these wines,” he says,
“mirroring an interest in slow-food techniques and restaurants
featuring local produce.”
What is meant by organic varies, Spingarn explains, but it
implies a wine made from organically grown grapes and vinified
without chemical treatments or additives such as sugar, alcohol and
enzymes. “Ideally native yeasts, rather than laboratory strains,
are used to ferment the must [i.e., the grape juice],” says
Spingarn.
“Organic wines,” he adds, “tend to come from smaller wineries,
where the grapes they use come from their own vines and not from
outside.”
The organic wineries Spingarn recommends investigating include
the French labels Domaine du Vissoux, Albert Mann and Nicolas Joly
(which, according to Spingarn, is where the trend in organic wine
began), as well as those from California, Coturri and Porter
Creek.
Organic-wine distributors include Louis/Dressner (www.louisdressner.com), Kermit Lynch (www.kermitlynch.com) and David Bowler (www.bowlerwine.com), all based in the United
States.
For more information, check out The Ultimate Wine Lover’s Guide
2006 (Sterling, $14.95; www.sterlingpub.com), written by Spingarn with
Fred DuBose. To book Spingarn for a wine event, send an e-mail to
winecello@aol.com.