Organic wine has undergone an extraordinary transformation. Once castigated by wine connoisseurs for quality shortcomings and a harsh taste profile, experts now say it often excels in both quality and taste, exhibiting a truer representation of the ‘terroir’ or the natural environment of the vine.
Hall 7 at this week’s Biofach trade show on Nuremberg, will showcase some of the very best examples of the organic wine-maker’s craft. As well as being the venue for the event’s ‘Experience the World of WINE’ zone, it will also play host and the international organic wine award MUNDUS VINI BIOFACH.
Organic winemaking in Europe is on the march. Since 2013, organic wine production in the three major wine-producing countries alone (Spain, France, and Italy) has grown by more than 70 percent. The overall proportion of organically certified vineyards within Europe’s wine-growing areas has also grown 3.4 times since 2008 to 9.5 percent.
What’s behind the growth?
The main driver is the strong and continuing increase in demand for organic wine, and the fact that producers are responding. Peter Riegel, Europe’s largest organic trader, began 35 years ago by importing wines from three politically active French winemakers, two of which were organic. Today Riegel imports and markets organic wines from 200 winemakers around the world, the majority from Italy, France, Spain, and Germany. In the past few years, growth has been a steady six to nine percent. “It’s clear that the proportion of organic wine offered by food and beverage retailers and discounters is on the rise, at the expense of conventional wine,” Riegel notes. He’s pleased to report that there’s a trend toward a higher quality of wine among end consumers, and this means that wine drinkers are now happy to pay more for a bottle of organic wine.
Another argument for switching to organic wine production is that winemakers no longer want to come into direct contact with toxic pesticides.
For many organic pioneers like Lotte Pfeffer-Müller of the VDP vineyard Brüder Dr. Becker (Rheinhessen), environmental protection has long been an important focus. This was the motivating factor for responsible organic winemakers well before climate change, now a major public concern, became generally acknowledged.
Even so, the key factor causing many winemakers to switch to environmentally friendly winemaking is a greater focus on quality and a desire to produce better wines. This was also the challenge that led Volker Benzinger (Palatinate) to switch to organic in 2016, with certification from the Ecovin association. What motivated him? “We made our business future-proof, and we’d like to continue our journey toward the premium segment. We won’t be around for much longer if we stay on the conventional path.”
Even before making the switch, Benzinger adopted an approach that was minimalist and as natural as possible. It was logical, therefore, to avoid using herbicides and other synthetic chemical substances in the vineyard. He can see a clear trend toward natural wines in the Benelux countries and in Scandinavia. More than 30 percent of his revenue from sulphite-free wines comes from this market. Conversely, demand for natural wines of this kind is still in its infancy in Germany. Beinzinger considers German buyers very sensitive to price and less willing to pay more for natural wines, although he does see room for development.
More and more winemakers are also going biodynamic, and enjoying an increasingly high regard among wine drinkers. 1,036 vineyards around the world are now certified by Demeter or Biodyvin. That represents growth of 38 percent over the total of 747 in 2016. The largest vineyard operating on biodynamic principles in Europe is Bodega Parra Jimenez, with 500 hectares in La Mancha (Spain).
Climate change boosts demand for adaptable varieties
In an age of climate change, new varieties capable of adaptation, or “fungus-resistant grape varieties,” are becoming increasingly important. These are real carbon-savers because they require no more than 20 percent of the protection needed by established varieties. That means fewer tractor runs and therefore lower emissions and less soil compaction.
Experts assume that wines made from these sustainable grape varieties will grow in importance in the future. Unfortunately, according to Riegel, this is not yet reflected in revenues because end consumers don’t yet relate to varieties like Solaris, Johanniter, Cabernet Blanc, or Pinotin. At best, these will sell in cuvées with attractive labels and fancy names, or in specialist shops offering professional advice. If sellers make the effort to explain the advantages of the new varieties to customers and offer them an unbiased tasting opportunity, then wines other than the usual Merlot and Riesling will have a chance.
Christian Wolf, head of tasting for MUNDUS VINI BIOFACH, takes a positive view of the development of fungus-resistant grape varieties, and he’s generally impressed by the quality of the organic wines submitted from a total of 13 countries this year. The jurors include 45 tasters from 15 countries. The ceremony for the major international organic wine award MUNDUS VINI BIOFACH will be held from 13:00 to 15:00 on 13 February 2020.
Germany, the world’s largest market for organic wine – and growing
More than 120 million litres of organic wine were sold in Germany in 2017 (Source: WEIN+MARKT + March 2019), or more than 23 percent of global sales. Germany still remains the largest market for organic wine, with France and the UK in the second and third positions. Looking ahead to 2022, the IWSR study Drinks International forecasts that Germany will continue to be the largest organic wine market. Organic is also a topic of growing interest in viticulture. Data from the FIBL Survey 2020 shows that the total area of organic vines worldwide has more than tripled since 2008, from 127,000 to 422,000 hectares in 2018.
Organic vines currently account for slightly more than six percent of the total winegrowing area worldwide. In Germany and in Europe as a whole, the figure is ten percent. The global total in 2000 was still just 1.3 percent. Spain has the largest area of organic vines, with 113,419 hectares (12.1 percent of the total), while Italy has the highest proportion of organic vines compared with the total area devoted to wine-growing, at 15.9 percent (106,447 hectares). France (organic: 12.6 percent), Spain, and Italy still produce the largest amounts of wine, and they’re also the largest organic wine-producing countries. Together these three countries account for 74 percent of the total area of organic vines worldwide.
• Biofach takes place on 12-15 February 2020 in Nuremberg, Germany. Natural Products Global will be reporting live from the show.