DiscoverVin: natural wines

Showing posts with label natural wines. Show all posts

30 May 2015

The March of Organic Wine

The “Wine Planete” column of the April 2015 edition of The Revue du Vin de France (the Wine review of France) contained a piece called “The Long March of organic wine."

The production of organic wine in France has more than doubled in 7 years.

Just to be clear on the terminology here, organic (or “Bio” as it is called in France) refers to wines made with no chemical fertilisers or artificial pesticides and herbicides. Organic production has to be certified and there are several authorities that can certify a producer as complying with organic production. Biodynamic refers to additional steps taken by the producers who follow the methods of Rudolf Stein (burying a cows horn, producing according to the lunar cycle etc.) In this way biodynamic production is a subset of organic production. We have previously blogged about the topic.

In 2014 only 8% of production was organic, but nevertheless a doubling in 7 years from a miniscule base . If we include vineyards that are converting to organic production (and not yet earnt their certification) the area under organic production continues to grow rapidly. In comparison only a tiny proportion of vineyards in Australia follow organic production methods.

There is no sign of this trend slowing. For example in Champagne up until recently, there were practically no organic producers. In 2014 there were 120. Similarly Bordeaux, in the past had very few producers using organic methods, now Guiraud in Sauternes and Pontet-Canet in Paulliac are 2 well known proponents. Without much publicity the famous Chateau Latour and Chateau Margaux have converted some test plots to biodynamic production. It seems that the long march continues apace.

DiscoverVin stocks wine from a number of producers who are either organic or biodynamic….

Chateau de Saurs (Gaillac)- converted since 2012 vintage

Domaine de l'Ancienne Cure (Bergerac)- converted since 2012 vintage

Chateau Haut Peyrous (Graves)- in conversion

Domaine Bellegarde (Jurancon)-in conversion

Chateau Bouissel (Fronton)-in conversion

Chateau Semeillan Mazeau (Bordeaux/Listrac Medoc)-in conversion

Chateau Moulin Pey-Labrie (Fronsac)- in conversion

Domaine Roche-Audran (Cotes du Rhone)

Our biodynamic producers..

Tour des Gendres (Bergerac)- converted to organic since the 2005 vintage.

24 May 2013

Organic v biodynamic wines

DiscoverVin distributes several organic and biodynamic wines. What is the the difference between organic and biodynamic wines? Are they are different to "natural" wines?

Unfortunately due to different regulations in various countries and different agencies that enforce "the rules", it is often difficult to find universal accepted definitions.

However, in short.....
"organic" refers to no sprays and minimal use of sulphur,

"biodynamic" means organic plus the use of specific production methods pioneered by Rudolf Steiner .

"Natural" means no additives whatsoever and the use of natural ferment (no added yeast or mechanical means to control fermentation- essentially fermented grape juice not intended to cellar for the long-term!

Recently we came across a very good explanation of these terms on the wine list of the Rouge Tomate restaurant in New York City. This is a Michelin starred "Modern American" restaurant featuring local seasonal ingredients and a fantastic international wine list of mostly organic and biodynamic wines curated by sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier. This restaurant not only employs chefs but uses a "culinary nutritionist" who helps in the preparation of the dishes!

We think that their explanation of the difference between organic, biodynamic and natural wines is as good as any that we have seen, and we have reproduced it here.......

So whats all the hype about? It is difficult to prove that organic or biodynamic wines taste better. Proponents believe that the wines taste "brighter" with better primary fruit characteristics and complexity and better reflect the terror of the site. Or in other words the practises produce more "authentic" wines. Perhaps its not necessarily the practises themselves that lead to better wines. Perhaps if a producer goes down the path of organic or biodynamic production they are meticulous and following best possible practices to produce the best possibly quality fruit from their vineyards?

Many of the producers distributed by DiscoverVin follow organic or biodynamic practises or are in the process of "converting " to organic practise. Effectively this conversion process means that the agency granting organic status in this case, The European Commission, recognises the primary producer is now following approved pratices and after a certain number of years will be given organic status. In France producers are given "AB" status by the Agence Française pour la Développemente et la Promotion de l'Agriculture Biologique. The producers are able to use the AB logo once they have achieved organic status. Recently they changed their logo so you will sometimes see the old one on the left (above) The new one on the right will be appearing gradually with new vintages.

The vineyards at Chateau Tour des Gendres in Bergerac. The grasses and weeds are allowed to grow, sprays. minimised, creating a vibrant natural ecosystem and forcing the grapes to compete and send their roots deep into the soils below

Our organic producers..