The more I think about this the messier it becomes and the more important it is to figure out.

I”m doing some researching now on a post that is from the consumer perspective on how to figure out and understand what you are buying at the point of purchase.

As far as the different organic standards, I’m not sure what to make of that, it seems to have gotten very political with some completely opting out for that reason alone – I think what really matters is if the growers/artisans have a passion for what they do. It’s hard to imagine someone who cares a lot about their product being fine with adding toxic chemicals to the soil or using ingredients that contain these chemicals in their products. Transparency seems to be a key issue here so people can make educated choices about what it is they’re consuming.

I look forward to reading more!

We should talk about wine sometimes, wonderful topic… and I'll make some personal suggestions of good wines as well.

And the topic is important based on the readership and the number of comments.

I couldn't agree more…organic is all about terroir. About place and people and the connection through the grape vine itself.

Sardinia…sounds wonderful. Consider yourself lucky to have such deep roots in an incredible culture.

Great reading!

My father and his father used to make organic wine all the time, decades ago.
He still -proudly- talks about it.

It's much more than the wine itself, but a true connection between soil, deep understanding of nature and the love for making wine.

My father is from Sardinia, the family still has lands.. if only I had the knowledge… dreaming is good

We had the benefits of having a farm in the family, my Father loved to garden as a relief from his exec work and my Mother also loved to cook jams, cakes and also to preserve and/or freeze produce from farm and garden.

So with all of that together with Father's home brewed wine, I was really spoilt before coming to the US. Fortunately, my wife (also a business woman) enjoys cooking and watches the Food Network with great interest plus we have a plethora of Food Magazines. Once again, I am now spoilt!

Reading your last paragraph makes my mouth water at the image conjured up.

Looking back I was on the same road until one TV program changed everything for me: Jamie Oliver's Naked Chef. He was about the same age as me and he showed how easy cooking was. So I started to cook again. Even today, after a hard work day I still cook my own food as there are so many recipes that will take you not much longer to prepare than throwing something into the microwave.

And getting back to good products: if you have a really good full fat cheese, fresh butter, some fleur de sel, fresh bread from the farmers market some olives, olive oil, saucisson for the boys and a good (organic) wine, who needs to cook? Taste explosion guaranteed.

I'm hopeful that Ed or Matt will chime in on your last point.

For myself…I'm not certain what the answer should be…yet!

I'm a believer in protecting through legislation, not defining. And I don't believe you can force distinctions down the consumer pipeline. It won't work.

I'm going to think on this a bit, then write another post. Hopefully with some additional input.

I've always enjoyed wine since the days back when my parents introduced me to it. My Father even took to home-brewing some very good wines from some really interesting source materials. A good friend of my parents was the Chief Chemist at a very well regarded brewery in the UK who literally abandoned drinking his firm's beer in favor of my Father's wine and home-brewed beer when not in public view.

I find the argument about the inclusion or exclusion of sulfites as it effects the US determination of what is or is not Organic to be intriguing particularly because, as Wine Lover observes, sulfites do occur naturally: Hence perhaps what we need here in the US is another designation that clearly indicates wines offering that, albeit are organic in origin, are actually “suffering from an enforced reduction or elimination of sulfites” as distinct from those wines that are through and through organic from start to finish?