Learn about growing grapes and making homemade wine with these step-by-step instructions.
Buying Organic Wine
If you’re wild about wine, and want to go organic, you’re in luck: A number of wineries now are producing organic wines that rival conventionally produced vino. The purist might want to consider truly organic wines, processed from pesticide- and herbicide-free grapes, with no added sulfites. Others less concerned with added sulfites can satisfy their organic cravings with wine labeled “made from organic grapes.”
Wineries with widely distributed organic wines include Badger Mountain, Bonterra, China Bend, Frey, Honeyrun, LaRocca, Lolonis, Nevada Wine Guild, Octopus Mountain, Organic Wine Works and Orleans Hill.
Wine distributors can be a useful resource for finding organic wine in your area. Organic Vintages, based in New York, has a toll-free number and will assist in finding organic wines nationwide [(800) 877-6655].
Another option is to order organic wine by mail, but in many places shipping wine is restricted by state law. Whether or not wine can be shipped to you directly from the vintner depends on where you live and from which state you are trying to order wine.
The states that currently have the fewest restrictions on shipping are California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Regulations vary even among these states, but wineries should be able to tell you whether or not they can legally ship wine to you.
For more information about wineshipping laws, visit www.wineinstitute.org/shipwine/.
Read more about growing grapes on the homestead: Growing Grapes and Making Homemade Wine.