Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
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Experts Services, Inc. Business in the Food Giſt Market NATURAL SELECTIONS 1964, but organic isn't on the label. "The public isn't convinced organic wine grapes are high quality," he explains. "There's a lot of confusion about wine made with organic grapes, because the grapes do have to be certified organic, but then the wine can be conventionally made and, by FDA rules, still be called organic." Coturri has never used grapes treated Fbsgifts.com s 866.752.2450 s sales@fbsgifts.com 3200 S. Central Ave. Marshfield, WI 54449 Winter Fancy Food Show Booth 1747 with pesticides, fungicides or herbicides, nor does he add sulfites, yeast cultures, water, acid or concentrates to boost sweetness. So how does he signal to the public that his wine is different from the rest? "I put my home phone number on the label," he says. "If people have any questions, I can fill in the blanks." In a good year he makes only 5,000 cases, so he doesn't have to field too many calls. (By contrast, Robert Mondavi Wines produces 10 million cases a year.) Who's Buying? Progressive vintners like Coturri are finding more ways into the marketplace through distributors, retailers and sommeliers who gravitate toward natural wine for reasons of flavor and philosophy. They act as middle- men for the consumer and are finding that the message is most successfully reaching an under-40 audience. Amy Atwood, a California-based dis- tributor and importer specializing in natu- ral wine, includes Coturri in her portfolio along with in-state winemakers Donkey & Goat and La Clarine Farm. Of the natural- wine movement, Atwood notes, "It's defi- nitely youth-driven. The people buying it are anti–big-corporate brands and aware of Natural wines are made with minimal intervention. "Nothing added, nothing taken away," says Alice Feiring, the author of the recently released book Naked Wine. Winter Fancy Food Show Booth 282 74 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE ❘ specialtyfood.com Booth #1747 Stop by at the Winter Fancy Food Show