It’s common knowledge that the UK consumer is clamouring for organic food; Sainsbury’s, for example, recently announced a joint venture with a British organic apple producer to dramatically increase production simply to keep up with the surge in demand.  You may be surprised to discover though that this trend in organic food consumption has been eclipsed by the increase in organic wine consumption.  In 2003, whilst the overall organic food market increased by a sizeable 10% in the UK, sales of organic wine increased by a mind boggling 40%.  So why such a vast increase?

It is natural to assume that increased organic consumption is driven by consumer demand. On the one hand we are told that Britain is becoming an obese nation, whilst on the other, (thanks to Jamie’s attacks on Turkey Twizzlers and Hugh’s crusade against battery farmed chicken) we are more aware of the processes behind the food that we eat. Perhaps this means that at the same time as knowing what is bad for us or the welfare of the environment/animals – we still want it. The increasing appeal of organic food, however, may be explained by the fact that it appears to tick both boxes: good and desirable. 

However, with ‘experts’ such as Professor John Krebs, chairman of the Food Standards Agency, reported as saying “Organic is a con” and critics of organics pointing out that 99.99% of the pesticides we eat are natural occurring chemicals created by plants to ward off preying insects, there is still much debate about the true benefits of organic food. The picture is even more murky when you consider organic wine.  Here various bodies govern the process, imposing rules which might be considered anathema to a serious winemaker and are often supported by fuzzy thinking.  For instance, it is usual in hot climates for winemakers to add tartaric acid (which naturally occurs in wine).  One organic governing body prevents the addition of tartaric acid but permits the addition of juice from organically grown lemons, even though the result is more of a fruit cocktail than a purely organic wine. 

In such circumstances it is understandable that many quality conscious wine makers eschew organic classification.  That is not to say, however, that they do not make organic wine.  Many producers, particularly those who believe in the importance of ‘terroir’ (a concept which relies in part on a belief that wine from one region tastes different from another because of the unique soil within the region) see applying organic principles as the only way to make good wine.  It is certainly harder for them to promulgate the virtues of their wine relative to the one produced in the neighbouring region, or indeed on the other side of the world, if the grapes for all of the wines are grown in soil saturated with the same agrochemicals.  Hence an organic grape farming method is seen as being a necessary component in producing wine of quality rather then motivated by a desire to produce something which is good for you.

Also, many winemakers choose to retain the right to use pesticides for when the going gets tough; e.g. spraying to reduce the risk of losing his/her entire crop in wet weather . Promoting their wine as organic in one year, to retract it the next, would not be a great PR exercise.

For those seeking good organic Kentish wines the search is a difficult one; our wet climate ensures that virtually no commercially significant winery is able to go fully organic.  A situation that may have been exacerbated, ironically, by local producers responding to consumer demands: the UK consumer wants to have a wine which is organic but they want it to be made from grapes which they recognise (e.g. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) which are far less naturally resistant to rot than the less marketable Germanic grape varieties which used to be most widely seen in the UK (e.g. Ortega, Schonberger). 

If you want a good organic Kentish alcoholic drink it may be best to go with one made from fruit more suited to our often damp environment – cider.  A local organic cider can be found from Sedlescombe Organic Vineyards www.englishorganicwine.co.uk  made from fresh locally grown organic culinary and dessert apples in Kent and Sussex. As the name suggests they also make a small range of wines which are well regarded. With the proposed increase in organic apple growing in the UK we should be seeing more and more of these on the market.