Can they be labeled “organic wine”?
Thanks for all of the responses so far, everyone. I’ll be sure to check back in here from now on.
So, I emailed a producer of such a wine, labeled “organic wine” and “no detectable sulfites”, and got a response that all they do is sterile filter. I didn’t specifically ask about Velcorin, but I did ask if there were any preservatives added and was told there are not. They also said they’re not pasteurizing or hot bottling or anything like that. These people produce a lot of wine and say they have no stability issues. Is sterile filtration really enough? Because of some other information presented by these people, I have reason not to take what they say at face value. They did say that the wines are good for 2 years after bottling, so obviously there’s a finite shelf life.
SO2 is used as an anti-microbial and anti-oxidant agent. Sterile filtering helps get rid of the beasties.
-Al
Exactly. Sterile filtration or Velcorin will clean up the wine from a microbial standpoint (though even those methods are not foolproof) but that won’t do anything to prevent the wine from oxidizing once it’s in the bottle. There’s going to be at least a little oxygen in contact with the wine after bottling, so you take your chances over time if you don’t have SO2 or some other anti-oxidant in the wine before bottling.
So, is it safe to say a batch of wine could be consistently sound for 2 years after no other treatment than sterile filtering?
I doubt the consistent part. It depends on lots of factors, including the other protective aspects of the wine, like tannin and yeast derived compounds.
Is it possible to make a batch that will last 2 years? I think yes. Is it likely to happen every year over a range of different white and red varietals? I sincerely doubt it. If it is, I’d like to speak to that person.
Local vigneron Cosimo Pizzulli is many vintages in to making commercial amounts of five varieties all bottled with no added sulfites and no use of Velcorin or other such products:
http://pizzulliwinery.com/
Disclaimer, Cosimo is a friend and we sell his wines. I recently drank a 5 or 6 year old Sangiovese and it was fine.
Too many factors involved to be able to guess on something like that with no other information. Grape variety, how the wine was made, how it was bottled, etc. Some wines with no added SO2 or other anti-oxidant certainly could go downhill in less than a year, others might be good for well over two years given the right set of conditions. If a producer really has a track record for their wines holding up, you can always buy some and find out whether they really do.
I’m sure the wines in question do hold up, but I’m not sure about whether or not there’s something they’re not telling me about that ensures that. I understand that you or anyone else can’t give a definite answer, but I am interested in what people think the likelihood is and what that might be.
+1
If the question is preserve. If the question is mitigate…now that’s different.