On March 2, 2019 we will be hosting a fundraiser to assist our friend Brittany Potter raise funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in connection with her running in the Boston Marathon. Here is a link to Brittany’s fundraising page. https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/american-foundation-for-suicide-prevention-boston-2019/brittanypotter.
We will be serving nineteen Southern Italian wines made in an eco-friendly manner: sustainable, organic, biodynamic or natural. These are healthy wines; wines made by humans not machines in a manner that respects the environment and minimizes the use of chemical interventions.
Before introducing the wines, here is a brief description of the various eco-friendly wine making techniques.
Sustainable – Paolo Cuccia in his article “Ethics + Economy + Environment = Sustainability” comments as follows: “(a)bove all, to be sustainable, a winery has to be a company: it has to be a business and be competitive on the marketplace. It must work in an ethical way and operate for social betterment. And, obviously, it has to be respectful of the environment, paying particular attention to its emissions of greenhouse gases, water consumption, and direct or indirect pollution. At the same time, a winery has to maintain the biodiversity of the ecosystem. To sum up, it must take into account both social and economic factors as well as environmental ones…. Helped by their more favorable climate, wineries located in southern Italy and the islands are further ahead on the road to sustainability.”
Organic – Organic wine is made with organically grown grapes which means no chemicals are used in the vineyard such as: pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and chemical fertilizers. Only natural products are used such as manure for fertilization and bees for insect control. Little or no sulfites are added in the process of winemaking. Sulfites develop naturally as a by-product of fermentation; generally 6 to 40 parts per million (ppm). Many countries allow organic wine makers to add a small amount of sulfites to prevent oxidation and spoiling; 25 ppm to 150 ppm; the permissible amount varies from country to country. Conventional wines are permitted to have sulfite levels at 350 ppm. Most organic wines have far less than 100 ppm, notwithstanding an allowed amount greater than 100 ppm. Thus, conventional wines may have 3 to 4 times more sulfites than organic wines
Biodynamic – Biodynamic wines are made in a holistic manner. The grapes are organically grown, but vineyard practices are in line with whole ecosystem; astrological and lunar cycles are considered when planting and harvesting. during the winemaking there are no added yeasts or acidity adjustments. I refer to biodynamic as “Organic Plus”.
Natural – Natural wine is farmed organically or biodynamically, and made (or rather transformed) without adding or removing anything in the cellar. During the process of wine making, no additives or processing aids (e.g. sulfites) are used, and ‘intervention’ in the naturally occurring fermentation process is kept to a minimum. Unlike organic wine, only indigenous yeasts can be used in the fermentation process, no commercial yeasts. Further, neither fining nor (tight) filtration are used. The result is a wine free of chemicals.
Note, although all the wines to be served at the fundraiser meet one of the eco-friendly categories, many wines that do not meet an eco-friendly classification are nevertheless made in manner with minimal interventions. as some do not bother with classifications, while others are in the process of becoming sustainable. These too are healthy wines. Meanwhile, some wines classified as sustainable may be in the process of becoming classified as organic. Over our ten years of visiting wineries in Southern Italy we have observed a commitment to the production of eco-friendly wines. Here are some of our favorites:
Sparkling Wine
Chiena Vino Spumante Brut, Casula Vinaria, organic http://www.casulavinaria.com
Il Fric Secco Frizzante Aglianico Rosato Paestum 2017, Casebianche, natural, biodynamic http://www.casebianche.eu
White
Melodia Fiano Colli di Salerno IGP 2016, Casula Vinaria, organic http://www.casulavinaria.com
Aliseo Tramonti Costa d’ Amalfi DOC 2016. Reale, organic http://aziendaagricolareale.it
Terra D’Uva Greco di Tufo DOCG 2016, Benito Ferrara, sustainable http://www.benitoferrara.com
Etna Bianco DOP 2015, Quantico, natural/organic https://quanticovini.com
Enrico IV Etna Bianco DOC 2016. Cantine Valenti, organic http://www.cantinevalenti.it
Red – Irpinia
Cinque Quercc Irpinia Aglianico DOC 2012, Salvatore Molettieri, sustainable https://www.salvatoremolettieri.com
Celsi Irpinia Aglianico DOC 2014, Fiorentino, sustainable http://fiorentinovini.it
ION Irpinia ampi Taurasini DOC 2015, Stefania Barbot, organic https://www.comuninelvino.it/site/it/stefano-barbot https://www.comuninelvino.it
Taurasi Riserva DOCG 2010, Antico Castello, sustainable http://www.anticocastello.com
Taurasi DOCG 2012, Case d’Alto, organic http://shop.casedalto.it
Fren Taurasi DOCG 2013, Stefania Barbot, organic https://www.comuninelvino.it
Taurasi 2014 DOCG 2014, Fiorentino, sustainable http://fiorentinovini.it
Red Other
Cardemone Tramonti Costa d’Amalfi DOC 2013, Reale, organic http://aziendaagricolareale.it
Ragis Rosso IGP 2013, Le Vigne di Raito, organic http://www.levignediraito.com
Aglianico di Baal Colli di Salerno IGP 2013, Casa di Baal, organic https://www.casadibaal.it
Verrone Paestum Aglianico IGP 2008, Verrone, sustainable http://www.verroneviticoltori.it
Kalema Primitivo Salento IGP 2014, Fabiana, sustainable http://www.fabianawines.it
For additional information on the wine producers (except for Casula Vinaria as they are a “new” friend, which we visited for the first time in October of 2018) please type the winery’s name in the “search” function.
Hope you enjoy the photos. These are the wineries that we have visited on multiple occasions.
