Organic wine: what is the difference with traditional wine production?

Organic wine: less tasty than conventional wines?

The fact that organic wine is still not generally accepted can be seen from the questions asked via our chat function. Moreover, the clicks on ordering organic wine but then opting for a traditional wine last minute.

How did we proceed to convert a prejudice - organic wine is less tasty - into a positive opinion. A number of customers who were negative towards organic wines were sent a tasting set with two organic wines and two traditional wines, numbered and therefore without a label. They were asked by email which numbered wine they liked the most. The answer was for the lion's share one of the two organic wines, the one with wood ageing. Read at the bottom of the article which wines in the tasting set were processed organically/non-organically.

When afterwards the email was sent with the names of each numbered wine, everyone was quite surprised.  

What is the difference between organic wine and conventional wine?

The organic market continues to grow. Despite the difficult economic moment we are going through worldwide, organic is no longer a fashion or a niche market: it is an important reality of the agri-food industry.

So let's not forget what organic farming is: a model of sustainable development, based on the principles of protecting and improving resources and respecting the environment and consumer health.

Organic farming stands for a method of cultivation that leads us to plan vinification directly from the vineyard, believing in the potential of a vineyard without chemicals and respecting the area under vines, avoiding coercion such as chemical fertilizers and systemic pesticides that tend to stimulate the quantitative production of the plant to the detriment of the qualitative. The precious soil/plant/climate ratio should be balanced for the development of a strong vine, carrying healthy, balanced, rich grapes.

Organic wine is a product derived from a cultivation method with precise rules laid down in EC Regulation 834/07, which excludes the use of pesticides or synthetic chemical fertilizers. For example, organic fertilisers are used to fertilise soils and, for the protection of crops against pests, plants are reinforced preventively (e.g. with balanced fertilisation), directly with pesticides of natural origin (e.g. copper, sulphur, plant extracts, etc.) or by biological control (use of living organisms directed against pests).

Why choose organically grown grapes/wines?

Today, organic wine-growing has become an entrepreneurial choice, as "organic life" has become more and more of a status symbol in recent years, resulting in the opening up of the market for this type of production.

The demand for and consumption of healthy, "natural" food is increasing by the day, i.e. without polluting the environment and especially without the use of chemical products.

The big difference is that organic wines do not contain any chemicals and have an added value compared to conventional wines: they respect and protect the environment and the consumer.

So why choose a wine made with grapes from organic farming?

Because it is synonymous with quality, authenticity and because it protects the health of the consumer and the farmer, respecting and protecting the environment.

Tasting Set sent to Selection of customers who were negative towards organic wine and from 1 to 4 their score:

 Gratus 2017 from Podere ai Valloni - Gratus, bio Nebbiolo power
 Sass Russ 2017 from Podere ai Valloni
 Nebbiolo 2018 by L'Astemia Pentita
 Barbera 2017 from Poderi Vaiot 

We would like to add that in Piedmont no chemicals are used anyway by the small, family-owned winegrowers we represent. These wineries have always given priority to human health and focused on quality rather than quantity with the techniques that are central to a healthy production