How we make our wines
We aim to make high quality, certified organic, sustainable wines with zero or close to zero preservatives.
The over-harvesting of European oak is threatening native forests so we don't age our wine in casks of imported oak; instead we use small quantities of waste oak in the fermentation process to add antioxidants and subtle oak flavours.
We don't use natural cork to close our bottles due to the unsustainable harvesting of cork and the loss of wine in storage due to cork failure or infection. Aluminium closures give very long storage life, are recyclable and encourage people to drink only what they really want. They are important in the making of preservative-free wine in that they afford such good protection from oxidation.
We use low-carbon, recyclable glass bottles to keep wines in the best possible condition for many years and give the pleasure that you deserve when you invest in a bottle of wine from The Food Forest.
Food Forest wines and cider are characterised by the sunshine, fertility and superb fruit of the Gawler River flood flats.
Using small scale stainless steel equipment the fruit is kept safe from oxygen and allowed to speak for itself, with an absolute minimum of intervention or presevatives such as sulphur dioxide or excessive wood. All of our upcoming 2012 reds are completely presevative-free.
No fining is used so our wines are all vegetarian and vegan-friendly.
Where a preservative has been used, it is sulphur dioxide and is expressed in parts per million (ppm SO2). Australian certified organic standards allow for the use of up to 100ppm whereas conventional wine can contain up to 250ppm (dry wine) and 300ppm (sweet wine). We have many customers who are sensitive to sulphur and have reported that they suffer no negative symptoms from our preservative free wines.
The wines are naturally stabilised by the cold winter nights when excessive tartaric acid crystallises inside the stainless steel fermenters, meaning that the formation of large crusts in the bottle is limited. Storage in our straw-bale cellar ensures that the wine has been kept dark and cool as it matures.
All wine is fermented and bottled at The Food Forest. Certified organic by NASAA. Cert number 5051.
We can arrange to bring wine orders to the Adelaide Showground Farmers Market on Sundays or can despatch 3, 6 or 12 packs via Australia Post.
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