Why buying Organic Wine?

| by Ben W | January 29, 2008

First of all, we need to explain what an organic wine is. An organic wine is made from grapes grown according to the organic agriculture. That means any chemical products as pesticides, fertilisers and insecticides are used into the vine. All of these things damage the soil and can end up in the wine as residue. The legal definition of Organic Wine is somewhat more complicated and varies according to where the vineyard is, where the grapes are from it are fermented into wine and, finally, in which market it will be sold. In all cases, the owner must be able to prove which vineyard the grapes come from, which officially recognized body certified the vineyard as organic and from what date certified organic practices began.
The idea is that making wine from grapes grown without man-made chemicals is better both for the planet and for the wine drinker, because there are no chemical residues to end up either in the vineyard soil or in the wine.
Organic Vineyards promote polyculture (biodiversity) by allowing plants other than vines to grow in and around the vineyard. This sort of biodiversity helps regulate the vineyard soil.
So, when you decide to buy and taste a bottle of organic wine, you do 2 gests. On for the planet and the environment (as any chemical products are used) and a second towards you as there is no residue into the wine you will taste.
Some tips now to enjoy organic wine.
In most case, decanting benefits both the appearance and the taste of the wine. Decanting helps the appearance by leaving any sediment in the wine at the bottom of the bottle the wine came in, rather in your glass. Remember that organic wines are often bottled without fining or filtration, so they are likely to contain sediment. This is often a good sign in a wine. Decanting helps the wine to breathe and develop all its aromas.
If after all, you are not convinced, why not pop in a real good independent wine merchant to have a little tasting and let yourself be seduced by the wine.

About the Author

Ben works for Festival Wines, a wine shop selling organic wines , biodynamic wines , vegetarian wines, vegan wines and low sulphur wines