Worried about how your drinking is affecting the environment? Amanda Barnes learns all about organic wine
'Organic', like 'sustainable', often appears as a marketing term hijacked by companies aimed at giving stay-at-home, yoga practising, yummy mummies an affordable sense of wellbeing.
On a recent trip to an organic vineyard in Valle de Uco called Occioverde, I learnt that beyond the marketing phenomenon there is actually an inspiring motive. But before donning my hemp shirt and Birkenstocks, I asked owner and winemaker Paolo Addis to explain what 'organic' actually is and why there's all this fuss about it.
Organic wine is both a new phenomenon and also a very old one. 'Organic' simplistically means respecting the environment by not using synthetic chemicals or anything that pollutes the environment. So it goes without saying that in the 7,000 year history of wine – it is only in the past 100 years since the invention of synthetic chemicals that non-organic wines have been made. Now the use of herbicides, fungicides and pesticides has become the norm; the 'conventional' method, and so conversely 'organic' is now the alternative. It is only in the past 10 years or so that Argentina has returned to some organic production with a handful of organic producers.
There are two ways to make 'organic' wine: producing organic wine, or producing wine made from organic grapes. Sound more or less the same? I thought so, but Paolo explained that where the first uses organic methods for the entire process (including the winery), the second uses organic grapes with conventional production in the winery (allowing them to add more sulphites, tannins and use different cleaning products). Most 'organic' wines are made the second way – with organically grown grapes.
Occioverde is one such producer with vineyeards located in La Consulta south of
this beautiful valley. "What interests me about organic is the sustainability," says Anglo-Italian Paulo as we walk through his sunny patch of vines with the Andes towering in the distance. "Conventional vineyards rely more and more on chemicals and get stuck in a vicious circle. The more you use synthetic chemicals, the more you need them." As with all living things, the vineyard adapts to the chemicals and stronger formulas are needed to make an impact – thus taking it further and further away from its natural state, and shortening its life. "Put simply," says Paolo, "if you fed someone a diet of McDonalds and steriods, they won't live as long as someone with a healthy balanced diet. It is not healthy for the plant to be pushed like that."
So if organic production is more sustainable and perhaps better for the earth, why is everyone using chemicals? Because they are much easier, cheaper, involve less work and higher production. But for Paolo, his business partner Elisabeta and numerous other organic producers, it is 'vale la pena' (worth the effort) and he believes that not only does it respect the land more but that the quality of the grapes are much higher. "With organic vines you get a much lower yield but a longer life – vines should last centuries, and pumping them with chemicals burns them out earlier." It does not necessarily follow that the grapes are better quality if organic (it all depends on the individual winery) but usually organic vineyards take a more artisan approach, paying more attention to a smaller, more concentrated yield for better quality.
To conquer some of the many obstacles that Mother Nature throws at them, organic agronomists have to come up with some creative yet simple solutions. To stop the infamous and enormous Argentine ants and other pests munching their way through their budding crop, organic farmers might spray their vines with strong garlic or hot chilli (the bugs, like many Argentines, don't like picante on their food). Another option is to grow 'cover crops' (or weeds for the less organic-literate) around the vines which give the pests their fill of tasty weeds rather than tucking into the rather more lucrative vines. This increased biodiversity is a strong principle of organic farming.
It all sounds much harder, more fiddly and demanding than just spraying the crops with 'kill all' somethingcides, but actually on a sunny afternoon in the vineyard, this lifestyle seems quite appealing. And it certainly sounds healthier.
"Organic is not just about the crop though – the people are also important," says Paolo. "With conventional methods the workers are put at a health risk. When I was working in a vineyard in Italy, I once got some of the chemicals on my hands when they burnt through the plastic bag and very soon I felt sick. Not only did the headache put me off but also that these chemicals were strong enough to burn through plastic. I decided I really didn't want to eat or drink these chemicals in any way!"
Organic farms are obliged to hire workers legally (which is often not the rule of thumb in rural Argentina) and thus workers handle safer products and have more legitimate working conditions (with insurance and pension etc). So if the people, environment and wine are perhaps better off organic, why aren't more people doing it?
"I often joke that organic farming is actually less environmentally friendly because of the number of trees you use." says Paolo. "There is so much paperwork involved in becoming certified that it puts a lot of people off. It does take more time and costs more money from this point of view." To be 'organic' you need to be clear of chemicals for 3 years, have regular inspections and get certified by each country you wish to distribute to as well as complying with your national government's regulations. This certainly builds up - the costs of certification and inspections can be around $4,000 US a year.
However it would be misleading to say that there isn't some financial gain in going organic. We are back to the marketing ploy. And in Europe and the US, it is a great one. More and more consumers are looking for organic or fairtrade products, and whatever their or the producers' motivation, this phenomenon is driving a positive change around the world. Within Argentina there is very little demand for organic, however with international consumer demand, organic and more sustainably produced wine is on the up, along with many other organic products in Argentina and the rest of the world.
So, on a personal level, is it worth a vineyard going organic? "There is more work and the risks are high, but we believe organic is much better for ourselves and the environment and our grapes keep getting better and better"
Paolo and Elisabeta are even thinking about trying to move to the holy grail of 'green' – biodynamic. If organic seemed difficult, biodynamic is a marathon. It is a method of organic farming which also takes into account the astronomical calendar, uses herbs and crystals and aims at having a practically complete self-sustainable farm. With preparations such as putting ground quartz in cow horns and stuffing flowers in deers bladders and cows intestines, burying them for a few months and then spraying the crops with the composted remains, biodynamic is probably a bit of a far stretch for most vineyards, let alone those in Argentina. However organic is really working its way more into the mainstream and proving to be more than a fad, and although I won't be putting on my Birkenstocks just yet, after a healthy day at Occioverde I am certainly starting to see the greener side of life.
To read about organic myths click here
For more information on Organic visit www.organicconsumers.org
For information on Occioverde visit www.viniesencia.com.ar
