Give Organic Wine A Go

Article By Jason, The Wine Vault

While you may not have noticed, organic wines are making a notable appearance on shelves both here and abroad. New Zealand produces many organic wines with the trend now taking hold in many wineries throughout the country. This growth, both at a national and international level, can no doubt be attributed to consumers being more discerning and environmentally aware – a trend highly beneficial to our export market.

What is Organic Wine?

By my definition organic wine avoids chemically synthesised products to kill weeds, insects and fungi, or chemical fertilizers for vine nutrition. The main advantage of organic growing is that there will be fewer chemical residues in the soil, atmosphere and the wine itself. No one really knows what the long-terms effects of these residues are (both on us or the planet) so choosing organic varieties can simply be seen as a cautious, ’safety-first’ approach.

The worst offenders are the rich wine regions. Take Australia for example, where the grapes are worth millions and chemicals (although expensive) are seen as insurance. The worst abuse of chemicals occurs in places like Chile and Portugal where inadequate training is given to the vineyard sprayers, resulting in illness and later on, deformities of children born to vineyard workers. The circumstantial evidence for this in Chile is overwhelming.

Preservative-Free Wine

Preservative free wine is something we should demand as consumers. But such wines would have to come only from great vineyard sites and from very healthy grapes, be hand picked, and fermented in small lots (not industrial tanks) then shipped locally (not across continents). It can be done and is being done but by a tiny number of wineries.

Things You Should Know

The most common wine preservative, sulphur dioxide (sulphites), is allowed in all wines organic or otherwise, at least in the EU. Hence in Europe organic wine must be labeled ‘wine from organically grown grapes’ and not ‘organic wine’. Unsulphited organic wines are rare because of their short shelf-life in bottle. Ideally you should obtain these wines direct from the winery after tasting them first with the owner. Organic wines may not be vegetarian or vegan-friendly either due to routine use of animal fining agents such as egg white and gelatin from pig bones. So check organic labels for vegan/vegetarian suitability.

The Final Word

Given the choice between badly made organic wines and well made non-organic, I’ll drink water. Life is too short to drink bad wine (even if it is organic) and non-organic wine may contain weed killer residues from products like Monsanto’s Round-Up. No thanks!

I encourage you to check out an organic / biodynamic wine this weekend. Here are my picks to help you choose and enjoy a quality tipple.

Carrick Pinot Noir: The Carrick Vines are hand tended and crop yields are deliberately low. After 12 months in French Oak Barriques, the resulting wine demonstrates savory fruit flavours underpinned by firm tannins and has the elegance and finesse which characterises classic Central Otago Pinot Noir.

Rippon Pinot Noir: Pinot Noir, perhaps more than any other red variety, acts as a reflection, a medium which translates climate, soils and human activity with a direct and hopefully, unmediated voice. At Rippon, this voice, this liquid informant, is issued from the oldest vines in the region, unirrigated and all on their own roots.

Milton Clos de Ste Anne Chardonnay: James Milton states; “The standout wine is their Naboth’s Vineyard 2005 Chardonnay with a complex bouquet of honey, almond and a little chalk, the palate viscous and concentrated with an intense minerally finish – a testament to what can be done with older vines in the right hands (and biodynamics of course!).”