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Organic wines are often overlooked by buyers because they have traditionally been seen as being ‘boring’. The tide is changing now though and the organic wine will be something that we see on the rise over the next few years.

The
term “organic” is cropping up more and more when it comes to food and drink
production in the 21^st Century. It demands a cleaner and a
non-chemically grown product. But how does this affect wine production and can
there be such a thing as a wine company who can produce truly organic wine and
stay in business?

 

As
the organic movement grows, there is pressure from environmentalists and
increasingly choosy customers to know exactly what goes into their food and
drink before they purchase it. Organic wines have previously been accused of
being dull, and most of the world’s “best” wines have long been produced in a
far from organic way.

 

The
place to start when talking about organic wine is to decide exactly what the
term “organic” means to you.

 

Organic
wine is made without the use of synthetic fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides
or fungicides. It is also vacant of artificial preservatives or colourings,
which may be added to non-organic varieties.

 

But
why go organic? It is thought that many of our foodstuffs have been tainted
with chemical build up through the use of non-natural pesticides or fertilisers
on the plants they grow and that your body could be affected by consuming them.
The build-up of these chemicals, it is claimed by environmentalists, have the
potential to cause long-term health problems or could contribute to developing
allergies. There is also the question of chemicals from treated crops going
into the ground and ending up in drinking water, an issue that has already led
to many changes in general crop production and water treatment.

 

Most
commercial crops are grown with the use of fertilisers and other chemicals who
kill things that can harm the crop. Continued use of these chemicals can weaken
the soil and start to upset the eco-system in the ground. They also lead to
some pests developing a tolerance to them which encourages the further
development and use of stronger chemicals and further builds up chemicals in
the product itself.

 

The
alternative to all this is to grow plants organically. Organic farming is a
more time consuming method of production and needs time to replenish the
natural eco-system too. Setting up an organic farm means taking time to tackle
weeds by hand,

encouraging
natural predators of pests who frequent the vineyard, and where this does not
work, finding other ways of tackling the many organisms that harm crops.
Fertilizer will be compost or animal manure, and a system of planting flowers
and herbs to create biological diversity has to be included in an organic
vineyard.

 

Vineyards
face an additional problem – mildew and black rot. These are diseases that can
ruin a crop and in some cases destroy a whole vineyard. This makes growing organic
vines very difficult in regions where there is a lot of humidity. Therefore
organic production is most common in hot dry regions where fungal infections
are less likely, and where extra labour can more easily be afforded.

 

To
be able to sell as an organic vineyard, the organisation has to be recognised
by one of the official certification bodies across the world.

 

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