Organic Wine and Food Matching

Badia a Coltibuono's  Emanuela Stucchi Prinetti. When you think of Italy’s Toscana (Tuscany) region, you think of medieval towns perched precipitously atop rolling hills, squat cars and mopeds screaming down harrowing cobblestoned streets from grey dawns to impossibly golden sunsets. And you also think of Tuscan cuisine. Green olive oil soft and fruity enough to drink, white beans and hand formed orrechiette , rosemary studded open-fire roasts, and of course the wine – red, of course, and smooth yet snappy: Chianti and its finest zone, Chianti Classico.   In the mid-‘90s Chianti’s Badia a Coltibuono committed to the then unusual practice of organic grape growing; not to save the world, but rather to strengthen identity of the estate. According to Coltibuono’s current director, Emanuela Stucchi Prinetti ( Coltibuono.com ): “Badia a Coltibuono has witnessed a thousand years of history,” and for centuries “was self-sufficient and managed following the farming...

There is a common misconception about “organic” wines that makes little sense to just about anyone, even when clearly explained. To wit: In the U.S. there is such a thing as organic wine , which differs from wines made from organic grapes in that they are not only grown organically, but are vinified without the use of any added sulfites. The USDA, in all its wisdom, makes this distinction despite the fact that there are very few wines made with at least som added sulfites, simply because sulfites are the best, most reliable way of stabilizing bottled wine.  Sulfites, in fact, occur naturally during the fermentation process of all wines, and so even a legally definied  organic wine,  finished with no added sulfites, will contain at least a small proportion (albeit, usually between 1 and 8 parts per million) of naturally occurring sulfites. If you wish to drink something 100% sulfite free, I recommend either chilled saké (although made from rice, an excellent “wine”...