Greenerati

Don’t blame us for attending the CCOF Second Annual Organic beer & Wine Tasting this past Friday at SF’s Ferry Building but someone has to check out the legit status of these beers and wines and see (we mean taste) just how organic organic is. We didn’t get to sample all of the 26 wineries and breweries but we did our darndest to sample several and ask all those important questions such as what counts as organic wine?

Wineries such as La Rocca from Forest Ranch, CA created some various varieties, which not only harvest organic grapes but use no sulfites. That seems to be the key. What’s the point of using organic grapes then shoving in sulfur dioxide? We sampled Le Rocca ’s premier 2003 sparkling wine that is “Grapefully Organic” and includes bottle grade organic sugar from Brazil. Yes, we asked about the carbon footprint about sugar from Brazil but their winemakers said that no similar product can be sourced from the U.S. Le Vin winery from Cloverdale showed off some of their wines, which went to a fully natural yeast this year and also served up deep rich organic olive oil.

We gave a fair shake to the beer makers as well testing out the Butte Creek IPA and SF’s own Thirsty Bear (Golden Vanilla). Both beer makers use organic ingredients whenever possible but its difficulty to source organic hops from the US (so they have to get them from New Zealand). Both beer makers see more organic possibilities in the near future and our taste buds are happy about that.