When you think of buying organic and local, you probably don't think about buying wine. Wine must be mostly organic surely? It's just crushed grapes stored for a while in a barrel right? And if you do buy organic wine, they've got to come from California and Southern France, areas where it's warm and dry and vine diseases aren't a problem, haven't they?
Well to be honest, no. Organic wine (or to be completely correct 'wine made with organically grown grapes') is produced without reliance on chemical pesticides, fungicides or fertilisers. When you think that those artificial inputs used in conventional growing are entering the plants, the fruits, the wine and then yourself, you may decide that's not an ingredient that you wish to have in your glass.
With the trend in wine at the moment being all about 'terroir' (in other words the taste of the land and the area where the wine is grown) doesn't it make sense that you should taste the soil without artificial nitrogen and taste the climate without it being obscured by excessive use of preservatives? We at the Soil Association certainly think so, and so do many of our licensees, including a select band of English winemakers, committed to making fantastic wines despite the challenges.
Sedlescombe Vineyard
While there are some fantastic organic wines from all across the world, there are some incredible wines produced on our doorstep. Roy Cook at Sedlescombe in East Sussex is one such example. Roy has had an organic vineyard at Sedlescombe since 1979 and was a pioneer of organic farming in the 70's. His organic techniques include using farmyard manure and green manure crops to restore soil fertility, straw mulches and mechanical cultivation to control weeds, and minerals such as copper and sulphur to control disease.
Nowadays he is reaping the benefits of his foresightedness and producing delicious wines to wide critical acclaim. Sedlescombe is a Soil Association certified producer, processor and also one of our network of demonstration farms. If you want to see organic wine production in action then this is the place to do it, and why not have a taste while you're there? The double dividend, fantastic tasting wine that hasn't travelled far from the grape to the glass!
» Sedlescombe Vineyard website
» To find other suppliers of organic wine, visit the
Organic Directory and select 'Alcohol' under category
» Further information - wine, beer and spirits - common questions and answers