A Closer Look at Organic Wines
The terms of eco- or organic wines have become very popular of late. Some wine merchants and sommeliers play it as a trump card or a conclusive argument when something is clearly not quite right about a wine’s price /enjoyment ratio.
Regrettably, this is just another hype which has
become trendy because it sounds good and spreads without criticism. Most of those
who use it would never think through what it actually means.
Winegrowers and -makers are not fools, not even
those who do not advertise themselves as being eco-friendly or organic
producers. No one wants to burden their vineyards with additional active
substances unless they have to. If for no other reason because every
intervention – such as chemicals and labour – costs a lot.
Eco-friendly or organic growing is an
exceptionally appealing idea. In theory, it combines the best environmental
approaches: a high level of biodiversity and the conservation of natural
resources.
Let’s look at this in practice.
The fundamental expectation of organic
cultivation is for the plants to be nourished by the ecosystem of the soil rather
than by adding substances to replace nutrients in the ground. The use of
chemicals including artificial fertilisers and synthetic plant protection
products is prohibited as well as the use of genetically modified plants (GMO).
We will not deal with the latter as GMO does not have much to do with grape and
wine production.
Use of fertilisers in viticulture is restrained,
generally. Grapevines, however, like any living organism, require different
macro- and micronutrients for balanced growth. Thus the occasional application
of organic manure is unavoidable. Why is that?
- Vineyards, even within the same wine region, are planted in soil with differing pH and nutrient content.
- Vines grow on various kinds of rootstock whose ability to absorb nutrients (calcium sensitivity) varies.
- Majority of vineyards have been planted and grown on the same spots of land for centuries which could lead to a deficiency of specific nutrients.
It is easy to see that relying solely and
exclusively on the soil’s ecosystem, sooner or later our finest vineyards would
become gutted.
By strict EU regulation organic farming in
vineyards require complete ground cover ( every, and not just every second, rows
of vineyards should be interspersed with grass ). Total green cover is a
competition to vines for absorbing nutrients. As a result the final product would
become “ thin “ ( or “ thinner “ ) wine.
A traditionally maintained vineyard. Grass in
every second rows to contribute to soil’s water management.
Organic vineyard, every rows interspersed.
Available options to fight diseases in vineyards are restricted.
Organic farming has absolutely no solution for
insect pests.
Appearance of fungal pests in rainy or foggy
periods is inevitable. At such times spraying is required far more often if non-synthetic
plant protection products are used, which means every 7 to 10 days instead of
every 10 to 14 days as eco-products have far weaker active agents.
The frequent need to spray by machine is one of
the factors of the minor contradiction that believers in organic farming prefer
not to talk about. Namely, “ over-mechanisation “ with all the environmental
impacts that would involve – the use of diesel-driven tractors –, is an
unavoidable prerequisite of organic farming. This is definitely the case in vineyards.
*
Weed
control can only be done by mechanical means ( involving tractors or hand-held grass
trimmers ).
*
The
need for extended green work ( often
referred to as canopy management ) is
significantly higher in eco-vineyards thus leading to extra machinery hours.
Viticulture is not an activity where the size
and quality of available labour is shifting in the supply direction. Non-EU
guest workers as manual labourers dominate EU vineyards. Ukrainian guest
workers have already being employed in the Villány wine region but, even so,
there is hardly enough manual capacity available in the busiest months of June
and July.
In summary, it is not a realistic idea to
expect high-quality production of grapes meeting the market requirements in
quantity using written rules ( without exceptions ) of organic farming. If this were a general
expectation wine prices would skyrocket. For the time being, the number of true
organic wine producers would form a statistical margin of error.
We wish to avoid any misunderstandings:
Jammertal Wine Estate goes to great lengths to practise natural viticulture and
to preserve the ecological balance.
We apply surgical precision in defining and
carrying out the required interventions in the vineyards, doing them in the
most environmental - friendly way possible. However, to continue the medical
analogy, when intervention is unavoidable – which is primarily and almost
exclusively to prevent the development of diseases in the vineyards –, we act
in time in least invasive and most effective way. Using ( synthetic ) chemicals
for spraying is probably the main reason why we cannot call our production 100%
organic. Not using any synthetic fungicides would result in bankruptcy sooner
or later ( worldwide ( ! ) ).
Goals and methods should go hand in hand.
Equilibrium and wise caretaking would result in beautiful harvest.
In 1885 Millardet first successfully used
copper sulphate, often referred to as Bordeaux Mixture, against Peronospora.
Did it then, and still today, not count that
agent as a synthetic plant protection product? Yet without it even diehard
organic farmers would go belly up...
If a wine fully complies with strict EU
regulations, one of those both marks shown below must appear on its label. Any
statement without one of those marks is a scam.
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