Natural Selection: the rise of organic wine
Low-intervention wines, whether they be made organically, biodynamically or naturally, are becoming increasingly popular. Edith Hancock reports
Whether it’s UK supermarket the Co-op’s unyielding mission to stock its shelves with more vegan and Fairtrade wines, or the string of natural and organic wine bars blooming in London suburbs, grape juice has grown a conscience, and consumers can’t seem to get enough of it.
The UK organic food and wine market is now worth more than ever, at £2.2 billion, according to the Soil Association’s latest report. It says 30% of sales are taking place online or on the high street, while supermarket sales have also risen by just over 4%, double the growth of the mainstream food and wine market.
In the on-trade, 38% of wine lists now include at least one organic, biodynamic or natural wine, according to Bibendum’s 2018 trend report. “This is unprecedented growth considering this time last year only 10% of lists included these categories,” it said.
Last year, research firm Nomisma published its Wine Monitor study. Organic viticulture has nearly tripled in Europe in one decade. Now with over 293,000 hectares, Europe is the world’s ethical wine powerhouse, hosting 88% of all organic viticulture.
Driving consumption
Richard Angove of Australia’s Angove Family Winemakers, tells the drinks business that a rising interest in personal wellbeing is as much a contributing factor to the organic movement as its low impact on the environment. “
We hear from our consumers that they want fewer chemicals, pesticides, herbicides and, indeed, any kind of environmental toxins in anything they consume or wear, and they are aware of the finite resources in the world, and want to do their bit on both fronts for health and sustainability.”
Angove became certified as an organic winery in 2008, and now has 15 wine labels in its portfolio, with nine certified organic, from Sauvignon Blanc to Merlot. Belen Fernandez Loza, UK manager of importer Spanish importer J. García Carrión, says the UK, Germany and France are driving demand products. “Spain is still behind but is getting there and will boom in a few years.”
Tapping into the ideals of low-intervention, natural wines have been cropping up in bars and restaurants in the UK for some time, but in certain quarters there is still a reluctance to accept them. Last month, The Guardian asked French wine critic Michel Bettane if people should be looking towards natural production. He said the category is “a fantasy of marginal producers, due to the lack of regulation, which makes the products wildly unpredictable.
“There is no legal definition of natural wine.” US wine critic Robert Parker is also sceptical, calling natural wines an “undefined scam”. Search for ‘natural wine’ on Google, and 560,000 results appear, with articles explaining the phenomenon dominating the first few pages.
Consumers are curious about the category, but if the world’s top wine critics are reluctant to take the philosophy seriously, natural wines may struggle to compete against conventional products.
Organic wines, which are generally cheaper to produce than natural or biodynamic wines, have also appeared on more menus and supermarket shelves.
While there are still discrepancies with the various qualifications wineries need to pass to qualify as organic in different countries, far more nations hold organic wines to a high standard. The end result much more approachable to the average consumer, sometimes of very high quality, and, for the most part, is made 100% organically, without pesticides or added sulphur. Organic farming is about keeping soil healthy using naturally occurring tools to control any issues.
Swapping chemical fertiliser for compost, introducing natural predators such as spiders into the estate, and producing natural sprays are just a few factors winemakers need to consider. This back to basics, pre-industrial revolution farming is often tightly controlled, particularly in Italy. Here organics now make up around 12% of the country’s total vineyard area, according to figures shared at trade fair Millésime Bio this year.
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Certification
Stefano Girelli of organic producer TWP Wines in Sicily says it took three years to gain certification from Italian trade officials after rigorous soil checks. Italy’s guidelines for organic production were revised in recent years. “Now you have to be 100% organic”, he says. The production process is checked both in the vineyard and in the winery. Winemakers must follow all the usual production protocols if they want to retain a DOC or DOCG certification, but must only use a minimal amount of sulphites and ensure their vines stay healthy by using copper sulphate to ward off mildew.
Girelli says it requires careful attention and a lot of manpower, as wineries may only use a small amount of copper sulphate, but it’s worth the extra effort. “You have to go into the vineyard every single day to check,” says Girelli. “But by going every day you can detect when you have a disease or a problem very early on.” The result, he claims, is hardier, higher quality fruit. Girelli considers himself lucky. Growing grapes organically is easier in areas like Sicily, where the temperature and humidity (or lack of) can be relied upon, but other producers face greater challenges with the weather.
The story is different in Tuscany, where Massimo Sensi, who runs organic Chianti maker Sensi Vini, requires his staff to be constantly vigilant. There has been a surprising amount of rainfall in the region this year, which means vineyard workers need to check the vines for diseases even more vigorously. This, he says, can drive up prices from year to year. “There are huge expenses as everything has to be done very quickly,” he says.
“Growing organic products does make it more expensive, because you have to pay close attention to each season.”
It may be labour-intensive, but producers swear by the quality of the end product. As fewer chemicals are introduced, the hardier fruits that do survive have a more concentrated flavour, shining a light on the terroir itself. “Flavour comes from the soil,” says Aussie producer Angove. “The better we treat the soil, the more flavour the soil packs into our grapes, and the more flavour we can craft into our wines.”
Despite its growing reputation worldwide, the definitions of what constitutes an organic wine aren’t always consistent. Different nations have their own certification criteria, so what is organic in one country may not be so in another. For example, the use of added sulphites is debated heavily in the organic winemaking community.
Many vintners favour the use of sulphites, in extremely small quantities, to help stabilise wines, while others frown on them completely. In the US, wines labelled ‘organic’ cannot contain added sulphites. Wines that have added sulphites but are otherwise organic, are labelled ‘wine made from organic grapes’. In the UK, however, the wine only needs to come from organic fruit to receive accreditation. The EU has strict guidelines on organic and biodynamic farming, but separate countries within the union have rules of their own, which leaves room for interpretation. And some wineries that do use organic methods are put off by their country’s bureaucracy and reject certification altogether.
Both Massimo and Girelli agree that there needs to be stronger regulation and consistency if the category is truly going to thrive. “The regulations are getting better in the EU,” says Girelli, “which is a good thing, because the consumer needs to be able to see what it means to produce organically and why it matters.”
Positive Outlook
Despite the trade splitting hairs over vineyard practices, consumers are catching on to the green trend. Organic varieties only represent 2.2% of the British wine market, Millésime Bio says, but it could rise by more than 14% this year.
Camilla Nash – a sommelier trainer at wine merchant Corney & Barrow – says some vineyards have always made wine sustainably, but consumer interest is driving wineries to change their labels. “We already have a fair few certified organic wines in the portfolio,” she says. “It’s not that there are more producers, but more are getting certified because it’s a talking point with consumers.” And the more consumers talk about it, the more accessible it becomes.
Sensi notes that the more organics that enter the market, the more affordable they become. Even UK winemakers are catching on to the trend. Last month, Sussex-based Oxney Organic Estate planted another six hectares of vines, prompting it to claim it is now the UK’s largest organic producer.
While biodynamic and natural wines are hot topics for 2018, if the industry continues to form cross-country regulations on sustainable practices, organic wine has every chance of becoming the brightest star of the ethical movement.
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