Over the past seven years of visits to wineries in Southern Italy we have observed many organic methods; common ones such as no chemical fertilizers or pesticides; ones less obvious such as colonizing the cellar with native yeast instead of adding yeasts from the outside; use of natural products to secure vines with old branches and salice wood; no machinery in the vineyard; harvesting by hand not by machine; and surrounding a vine with wood in which invasive insects are trapped and do not reach the vine.

There other obscure methods: (1) replacing wine that has been in an oak barrel and moved to a steel tank to prepare for bottling with wine that has been fermenting within three hours to avoid the growth of bacteria in the wood barrel. Once bacteria is present sulfites are needed to cleanse the barrel; thus this rapid transfer technique limits the use of sulfites. (2) A rose plant at the end of a row at the vineyard; if the rose plant becomes diseased, it is a warning that grapes may be at risk of disease. Organic approved methods are used to protect the grapes. (3) Bees; they are a natural predator of a parasite that invades ripening grapes. Similar to cherry tomatoes grapes may develop cracks when they are close to harvesting. Instead

of spraying  grapes; bees attack the parasites and grapes self heal. Francesca and Serena Salerno from Casa di Baal explained this organic method to us.

I select wines from winemakers that follow many of the above organic methods; meaning that the wine is more natural and chemical free than wines from larger wine producers who are not as attentive to organic methods. In short, wines from my friends are healthier for you.