GOING ORGANIC

The Independent's expert Rosamund Hall explores if grapes grown without pesticides are all they are cracked up to be

- Rosamund Hall

Are organic wines just an overpriced gimmick or the saviour of the wine industry? It’s a fairly bold question and one that I won’t be able to answer succinctly, I’m afraid. But they certainly are a bright light in what is currently a rather muted time for wine, with an international decline in sales and oversupply.

I should clarify exactly what I mean by organic wines, as you may have heard of biodynamic and natural wines, but I’ll save those for another day. These are wines that have been made with certified organically grown grapes – no herbicides or pesticides will have been used on the grapes in the vineyard.

This can pose real challenges for the grower, as grapes are under constant threat from diseases and pests – but the idea is that in a regeneratively farmed vineyard, the solutions for such diseases and pests are found within the natural ecosystem of the vineyard.

An organic vineyard encourages and attracts a greater range of flora and fauna, including insects that mitigate the need for pesticides. Soil degradation is limited and the effects of drought can be minimised. And importantly, the workers themselves are less vulnerable to the devastating health implications associated with the usage of these aggressive chemicals.

But how do you know if it’s organic? For wines that have been produced in the EU, they will be signified by a label on the bottle of a green leaf, whose edges are made up by, you guessed it, the stars of the EU flag. Other countries will have their own designation – if it’s an organically produced wine in the UK, it will either have the “soil association” or “OFG: Organic Farmers and Growers” label.

Confusing? Well, hopefully not too much. It should be clear on the bottle.