Organic Le Loup Blanc: The Green White Wolf

Last Saturday, thanks to Mr. Josh Levin (www.goodeater.org) a couple of us from NYU Stern were given privileged access to the Astor Wine Facility  – a beautiful, old, multi-story building that houses a retail store, restaurant and a large learning facility. Andrew Fisher, the President of Astor Wines and Spirits spoke to us about what it means to be in the wine business, the trials and tribulations of running a family enterprise and about his passion for wine. He was accompanied by Mark Russ Federman (the “lox maven”) who runs a 111 year old lox and salmon store in Manhattan. 

After the enlivening talk we were treated to a tour of the facility and a full-on wine tasting. Most of the wines were French Organic wines. My favorite was Le Loup Blanc (“The White Wolf”), a full bodied dark red wine made from Carignan, Grenache, and Syrah. I learned that “organic” = no sulfites.

The organic wine movement suffers from all the confusion that the organic food movement experienced over the last decade. When I took a closer look at the “organic bottles,” I found some claiming to be sustainable while others were bio-dynamic! 

What does this mean and does it matter? Nomenclature aside, a little bit of research revealed that there are two schools of thought:

1. Sulfites have been a winemakers ally for hundreds of years – sulfites act a preservative keeping sweet white wines from losing their fruity flavors and to date, no one has been able to find a non-synthetic replacement for sulfites.

2. Purity Enriches Flavor. According to  the dean of wine studies at New York’s French Culinary Institute, wines made from pesticide-free grapes usually are more interesting to drink. “The less interference in the farming of the fruit, the more pure the flavor is. Everything you do to that ingredient, the grape, is reflected in the final product.”

Not to mention the question of carbon footprint. If you really care about the environment and you live in California it might be better to drink your non-organic sulfite induced wine from Sanoma Valley than  your organic French wine?I am no oenophile, but I would like to know what the right answer is.

There is nothing better than spending a lazy Saturday afternoon pontificating about wine (organic and non-organic) after five glasses of wine! Below are the mildly inebriated pontificators extraordinaire.