Like a lot of people, we are concerned with the state of our planet and with the sources of the foods and wines that go into our bodies. We are big fans of the Slow Food movement. We like to buy wines directly from the people that grow the grapes. We favor wines that are organic, made from organically grown grapes or even bio-dynamic. Of course, our first criteria, always, is that the wines have to taste good.

For a wine to be labeled "Organic" and bear a USDA organic seal it must be made from organically grown grapes and it must give the name of the certifying agency. Next come wines made with organically grown-grapes. Any wine that's labeled like that must be made from 100% organically grown grapes. Then there's biodynamic, the brain child of the philosopher Rudolf Steiner. This is an entire gestalt controlling the agricultural practices, and is, to a certain extent, beyond organic.

Remember that many wineries follow organic practices but don't apply for certification for two reasons. First, they want to reserve the right to spray their grapes in a crisis. Secondly, every label change has to be approved by the ATF and that takes time and money. Bear in mind, too, that we have a few spirits that deploy the word organic. This usually means that they are distilled from organically grown grains, but at least one, Benromach Organic Single Malt Scotch, is organic from start to finish, including the wood in the barrels.