y most accounts, certified organic foods now make up about 5% of supermarket sales, and are an $18 billion industry. But why drink organic wines? Like consumers, wine growers have been moving towards organic farming for over a decade for health and environmental concerns, and because it makes sense to farm sustainably for the benefit of future generations and vineyard productivity.

In California alone there are now some 12,000 acres of vineyards (almost 5% of the state’s total) certified by third party organizations like California Certified Organic Farms (CCOF); and there are nineteen wineries certified as producers of Organic Wines (i.e. wines farmed organically and vinified without additional sulfites). It is also worth noting that over 90% of vineyards up and down the West Coast are farmed sustainably, without any certification. The days of routine, rampant use of chemicals are long gone, and practices like cover cropping to establish organic mulching and foster beneficial insects, and canopy management to minimize mildewing and other diseases, have become pretty much standard practice in the U.S. and around the world.

While prestigious, longtime organic producers like Napa Valley’s Frog’s Leap, Domaine Ostertag in France and Alois Lageder in Italy have never aspired to “save the world” agendas, the reasons to drink their wine are ultimately the same as that of any other wine: grapes from clean, healthy vines also make some of the world’s finest, most distinctive wines.

There are hundreds of certified organic wines to choose from, although you often have to look on the back labels to see the designations. Here are twenty delicious organic wines, all retailing between $9 and $18, and available in stores near you.

Organic White Wines

2007 Frog’s Leap, Rutherford/Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc (California; made from organic grapes) - Crystal clear, fresh, green melon aroma with herby, grassy undertones; lemony crisp entry, become round, soft, long and slender in the middle, finishing with a light lemon and honeydew fruitiness.

2007 Holmes, Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand; organic grapes) - Classic New Zealand nose – green herby, slightly peppery, and grapefruity fresh – followed by crisp, fine, silky, lemony dry and refreshing flavors.

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