An Impressive 98% of New Zealand Wine Producers are Certified Sustainable

By Cameron Douglas

An Impressive 98% of New Zealand Wine Producers are Certified Sustainable
‘Kaitiakitanga’ means to care for our place, our people and future.

When it comes to the New Zealand wine industry, subscribing to a philosophy of caring for the land, using organic or biodynamic farming, results in better wine.

Organic vineyards do not use synthetic chemical fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides. Biodynamic farming practices provide a means to build-up naturally occurring ecosystems in the soil (at microbial level) and within the boundaries of the vineyard itself.

This is largely achieved through giving back to the soil with vineyard-generated compost, seaweed, soil and tea preparations and planting cover crops that return nutrients as well as some natural pest controls.

What this can mean for a finished wine is a more precise purity of fruit expression, a reflection of the site in the minerality of a wine and practically no preservative measures that you might have a reaction to (other than the alcohol – and that’s all natural anyway). Most wines produced using these vineyard practices taste and feel that much more real, and for those readers on a vegan diet, it’s an easy choice.

On your next wine purchase, look at the back label of the bottle for a certified BioGro, Demeter or ‘Organic’ symbol.

Ninety-eight per cent of New Zealand wine producers are certified sustainable – arguably the highest of any wine-producing country.

Some of our favourite organic wines 

There is no mistaking the aromas of red apple and fresh red cherry, a mix of wood spice and stony mineral moments in the Seresin MOMO Organic Pinot Noir 2018 from Marlborough.

The Judge Rock Innocent Rosé 2020 from Central Otago is tense, crisp and youthful with noticeable acidity then flavours of red cherry and apple, some citrus, salt and minerality. It makes for a lovely aperitif or on its own.

An immediately captivating and and complex bouquet, the Greystone Organic Chardonnay 2018 from Waipara Valley has aromas of wild white flowers and honeysuckle, sweet grapefruit and white peaches, red apple, new-ish French oak scents and a core of minerality.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Print Recipe

You may also like

BECOME A MiNDFOOD SUBSCRIBER TODAY

Let us keep you up to date with our weekly MiNDFOOD e-newsletters which include the weekly menu plan, health and news updates or tempt your taste buds with the MiNDFOOD Daily Recipe. 

Member Login