Organic, Orange, Natural, Biodynamic. What?!

Wine has been made for thousands of years, and in that time science and technology has advanced to bring us lots of high quality wines from around the world. Trends have come and go for specific wine styles too.

Of growing prominence in sales and publicity, are the 3 categories of wine mentioned in the title. It’s now impossible to avoid them, they are no longer niche products.

But what are they? Lets dive a little deeper…. 

Organic Wines

Fairly straightforward to begin with. Vineyards avoid the use of most pesticides and fertilisers for a healthier, more sustainable growing environment and planet. Therefore, that should translate into healthier grapes and better tasting wine, right? There are various regulated schemes that growers can be a part of, and regulations vary from country to country. However, that doesn’t mean that they don’t use pesticides at all- there are still some permitted, that aren’t considered as ‘harmful’ as synthetic ones. It’s also important to note that this term generally only applies to what happened in the vineyard where the grapes are grown, not necessarily the winery where the grapes are processed and fermented.

In general, grape vines are much hardier plants than other commercially grown crops too, requiring less nutrients and water. They are historically grown in soils where other edible plants could not survive. Even in ‘non organic’  viticulture, growers don’t just spray things pre-emptively, they follow the French term ‘La lutte raisonnée’ (The reasoned struggle). Pesticides and fertilisers are used sparingly, only when absolutely necessary. Apart from anything else, winemakers don’t want excessive chemical residue left on grapes that will impact the flavour of the wine.

Biodynamic Wines

A variation on organic viticulture that follows the principles of the philosopher, Rudolph Stiener.  It involves seemingly strange ‘hippy like’ rituals with no hard scientific basis such as burying cow horns stuffed with manure in vineyards, and undertaking vineyard management tasks like pruning during certain phases of the moon and dousing vines in preparations of herb & spice mixtures. It is believed that following these practices produces better quality grapes, although many skeptics would argue that it’s the organic part of the process driving that. There are a number of certifying bodies like with organic, the main 2 are Demeter and Biodyvin with their logos appearing on the label.

Some producers also choose to use organic or biodynamic practices as much as possible, reserving the right to take action with stronger measures if they have to. Some may also observe but choose not to certify officially. There’s a lot of bureaucracy involved, and in general many of the branded schemes require annual licencing payments and at least 10 years of practicing before certification is even possible.

Orange Wines (Sometimes also referred to as Amber Wines)

This one is fairly straightforward enough. These are white wines that have extended periods of skin contact with the grapes for periods of days, sometimes weeks. With regular white wine making, this is normally a maximum of a few hours. This extracts more colour and flavour phenolic compounds. They tend to be a deep yellow/brown colour very nutty and savoury, which makes them great pairing partners with richer and more challenging foods. However, great care is needed as you can also get very high levels of bitterness from skin contact as well. Many orange wines often have a bit of residual sweetness to help balance this, and the wines are often challenging to drink on their own- they don’t make the most refreshing quaffing wines without understanding the category!

Now winemakers in Georgia and parts of eastern Europe may chuckle at this ‘new trend,’ because effectively it’s the old fashioned way of making a white wine dating back thousands of years before the age of stainless steel and temperature control systems in the 1960’s. Amber wine making is widespread there, surviving ‘better/modern winemaking,’ and are in fact enjoying revived interest as a result of consumer curiosity and newfound sense of adventure.

There are generally no regulations or certifying bodies with this category, so producers are free to experiment with different methods. Practically every country has got on the popularity bandwagon and is making them now (even England!). As with other wines, some are often better than others taste wise!

‘Natural’ Wines

I’ve saved the most controversial for last. Effectively it’s a movement amongst some producers of going back to basics, with the belief modern winemaking methods have led to bottles of uninspiring, bland generic clones of one another.

Generally, it is avoiding the use of chemicals in the vineyard and as many ‘unnecessary additives’ in the winery (including using ‘wild’ yeasts naturally in the air, rather than bought in cultured yeast). This is however, an exceptionally poorly legally defined area, and it’s a veritable ‘wild west’ of winemaking.

Supposedly it makes ‘better wine,’ though critics of early ones argued most were just examples of sloppy winemaking with poor hygiene, with unwanted organisms causing all sorts of funky aromas. A lot of these ‘unnecessary additives/steps’ are there to prevent spoilage.

There are a lot of passioned arguments over this category. Ultimately, it’s down to personal preferences. Personally, though many I have tasted have improved over the years, I don’t inherently believe this makes better wines than ‘commercial’ examples.

What do you think on these? Have you tried any, did you like them? Do customers regularly specifically ask for them these days, or do you work in a specialist retailer of any of these wines? Let us know in the comments! 

#OrganicWine #OrangeWine #NaturalWine #BiodynamicWine #WineTrends #SustainableSips #VinoVariety #WineEducation #WineLovers #WineKnowledge

This article was written by John Callow, a seasoned hospitality professional with extensive experience in wine selection, pairing, and industry trends. John is also the founder of The Northern Wine School, where he shares his expertise through wine education and tasting events. Find out more here https://www.northernwineschool.co.uk/