Girasole

Do we need pesticides in our vineyards?  It's a good question.  What if our regular glass of wine contains some small percentage of bad stuff and that little bit could lead to health problems later in life?  Girasole (geer-uh-so-lay) Vineyards believes we should be concerned.

Girasole is a Mendocino County family-owned and operated certified organic estate winery established by Charlie Barra in 1955.  Once again an Italian-American leads a family winery into generational success.  Only this time the achievement is more impressive because of the organics emphasis.

To attain the CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers) label means accepting annual audits, regular verification paperwork and additional labor requirements.  It also means accepting risks, pests being the worst of them.  

To be labeled organic a wine must limit sulphur to less than 99ppm.  Non-organics are allowed up to 350ppm.  Barra organic wines test at half of what's allowed.  While regular yeasts show a small petrochemical content, Barra's organic yeasts have none.  For sixty years, way before others got on the bandwagon, Barra has farmed the organic way while concurrently being a board member of the California North Coast Grape Growers Association.

Girasole (Italian for sunflower) is a three hundred acre estate in the Redwood Valley, the headwaters of the Russian River.  All of the grapes are estate grown and handharvested, making this operation all the more impressive.