Clean Living - Why organic wines shouldn't be ignored

24 January 2022 - Justin Sims

There’s no escaping the facts, organic wine sales in the UK are still on the rise and are predicted to continue strongly over the next decade. The picture is mirrored in other key wine consuming markets around the globe; Germany, the US, France and Scandinavia to name a handful.

So, what are the benefits of drinking organic wines? How do they differ from conventionally made wines and what’s happening in the global wine industry to help facilitate this burgeoning interest?

The Benefits of Drinking Organic Wines

The obvious one, for anyone who cares about the planet, is the benefit to the environment. Working organically in the vineyards means no addition of harmful, man-made chemicals so no chemical fertilisers, herbicides, fungicides or pesticides. This not only improves soil health but also supports a more balanced local ecology and it’s kinder to the vineyard workers too (although it is more labour intensive).

Being more labour intensive is also a plus because organic wine estates create more jobs than non-organic wine estates.

The wines are also closer to their raw and natural state because they’ve either had restricted or no use of artificial additives and organic winemakers favour using native yeasts and lower intervention winemaking techniques. More on this below.

How do Organic Wines and Conventional Wines Differ?

We’ve already touched on the fact that there are no artificial chemicals used in an organic vineyard. It’s a similar story in the cellar regarding the use of artificial additives and preservatives, but it’s worth pointing out that there’s no universal set of rules around organic winemaking. It’s broadly the same across Europe but the rules are even tighter in the US, for example, around the addition of sulphites (more on this below). Every country effectively sets its own standards that’s enforced by its own government-backed independent body.

Is it possible to taste the difference between organic and non-organic wines? Do organic wines taste better? While taste is always going to be subjective, a couple of recently published studies have shown that organic wines have performed better in professional independent tasting reviews than conventional wines. One study was conducted exclusively on US wines and the other on French.

One of the key differences between organic and conventional winemaking is that most organically certified wines are either strictly limited or forbidden from receiving added sulphites in the form of SO₂ (Sulphur Dioxide) during the winemaking process.

SO₂ is a natural by-product of alcoholic fermentation, in very small quantities, but it can also be added as a preservative to prevent the wine from oxidising. Conventional wines, especially those that are bulk-produced, typically receive high levels of SO₂ in the winery in addition to regular additions of powdered sulphur when the fruit’s picked.

There is a caveat to consider here. Less or no use of SO₂ means that the wines are potentially less stable and, in theory, won’t be able to age as long, so are intended for earlier drinking. Not necessarily a bad thing.

In practise, producers with good hygiene and a high level of attention to detail can minimise this risk.

How Important are Certification Logos?

Many organic wines will carry a logo to indicate that they’ve been certified, but not all of them. Logos offer immediate reassurance to consumers, especially when they want to make a quick purchase decision.

However, it’s good to be aware that if the bottle doesn’t carry a certification stamp, it doesn’t automatically mean it hasn’t been made organically. In fact, there are plenty of very well-known and long-established wine producers that have been practising organic principles but choose notto be certified because it’s quite an expensive and bureaucratic process.

In some cases, they actually disagree with the criteria set out by the governing bodies saying that it’s not stringent enough and therefore don’t prescribe to it for that reason.

Climate Change Helping to Bring Organic Wines into the Spotlight

The effects of climate change and the sustainability of our agricultural practices are encouraging more and more wine producers to consider working more organically and with greater consideration towards their local environment. But it’s not just individual producers and estates that are making the switch.

The DO Cava announced last year that all Cavas de Guarda Superior will be 100% certified organic by 2025. That basically means anything of Reserva quality or above. It’s expected that other European appellation bodies will take similar steps, especially if global demand for organic wines continues growing at its current rate of 43%.

The EU’s ‘Green Deal’, announced in late 2020, set an ambitious target of at least 25% of all European agricultural land to be under organic stewardship by 2030. Currently it sits at around 8.5% but this will help encourage more farmers and vineyard owners to make the conversion. In 2012 just 5% of European vineyards were certified organic, today it’s around 13% which is a significant uplift and the growing trend is set to continue.

Organic viticulture is easier to adhere to in warmer, drier climates so it’s perhaps no surprise to learn that Italy has the highest percentage of its total vineyard surface area certified organic (16%). Spain and France follow at around 13%. When you look at France more closely, it’s the warmer southern areas that have a higher representation than the cooler, wetter regions nearer the Atlantic coast and further north. The rising mean temperatures are enabling growers in more marginal climates like northern Burgundy as well as here in the UK to embrace organics.

If you want to know more about the range of organic wines we carry in stock, please do get in touch and we’ll be happy to advise.