Interest in certified organic wines has exploded

"With organic foods all the rage, consumer interest in certified organic wines has exploded. Long before demand intensified, though, Redwood Valley grape growers Charlie Barra and Jonathan Frey in northern California's Mendocino County embraced organic grape-growing as the natural way of doing business.

Barra's forebears grew grapes in Italy's Piedmont region. In the early 1900s, his grandfather and father migrated to the Redwood Valley about 140 miles north of San Francisco. The hot days and cold nights along with the rolling foothills and mountains reminded them of Piedmont's ideal grape-growing conditions.

At the time, de facto "organic" grape-growing emerged naturally. Synthetic chemicals and pesticides simply did not exist for managing vineyards. Instead, the Barras used old-fashioned hand labor for weed control. Nature's seasonal cycles and ecosystems battled pests."

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