I am often asked whether drinking organic wines will stop certain reactions like redness of the face or nasty headaches. These are some of the reactions that certain people get when drinking wine and it is not very pleasant I’m sure. First of all, the theory: ‘organic wines’ have to be made from 100 per cent organic grapes. This is important as if you see a label that says ‘made from organic grapes’ this may mean that only 70 per cent or more organically grown grapes were used in the making of the wine. Organic wines are grown without any manmade pesticides or fertilisers. Historically there were tons and tons of this stuff used, and there are legendary tales from the wine regions about fertiliser salesmen who became very wealthy unloading disgraceful amounts of this stuff with sales pitches where they told each grape grower how their neighbour was using so many tons per hectare, etc. Organic wineries do not add bags of oak chips to add flavour and they use only a very basic and traditional method for making the wine.
All wines have sulfites; however it is the level of sulfites that can cause reactions. The purpose of sulfites is to keep wine fresh, and organic wines have an absolute minimum of sulfites but very few, if any, have zero sulfites.
Just the same as with organically grown vegetables and fruits, organically grown grapes have more vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorous, and contain fewer nitrates than conventional crops. Resverotrol, a compound found in red grapes, has been shown to have a beneficial effect to your health by lowering cholesterol and preventing cell oxidation. Research has shown that grapes sprayed with fungicides have up to 80 per cent less resverotrol. So in summary, if you subscribe to the theory that organically grown fruit and vegetables are better for you, then the same is true for organic wines.
To test some of this I met with Dirk Flake and sampled some of his selection of organic wines that he imports. He only imports organic wines and he travels to the vineyards to ensure they are 100 per cent organic. He has a selection of about 23 reds, 10 whites, plus sparkling wine and dessert wines which makes him the biggest stockist of organic wines that I know of in Ireland. My overall impressions were of drinking wine that tasted ‘very clean’. They were very easy to drink, soft, and fruity. The Vignetto Rosso, which is a Merlot from Italy, is €9.90 per one litre bottle and €40 for a five litre box, representing great value. It is a perfect everyday wine. The everyday white which I sampled was from the Languedoc in France and is made from the Vermentino grape and called Domane Casteplane; it sells for €9.95 for a regular size bottle. Moving up the scale to a fine Saint Joseph from the Rhone, this was a really first rate wine and sells for €10.50 per half bottle, or €19.90 per 75cl bottle. Next up is my favourite of all the wines, a Banylus Rimage 2006, it is one of the very few red dessert wines and is famous for being a perfect match with chocolate. To test this, I had a dark chocolate soufflé with it and yes, it worked perfectly. It is 17 per cent in alcohol content so take it easy when drinking it — if you can. It sells for €28 per 50cl bottle and is worth every cent. Lastly, I sampled a Cordrieu from the Rhone, another speciality wine from France and quite rare. It is full of peachy, apricot, and sometimes lychee flavours, not to everyone’s taste but if you like your wines then you really should try it. Matches perfectly with smelly cheeses and foie gras, price €16 per half bottle or €29.90 for a full bottle. Dirk can be contacted on (065 ) 7078140 or any Saturday at the Galway fruit and vegetable market.
I cannot vouch for whether these wines will halt the reactions that we mentioned at the beginning of the article, as thankfully I do not have these, however I believe that because of the great care that Dirk takes when selecting them, I think it would be worth your while to experiment. For those who simply enjoy good wine they should be added to your shopping list.
