Article By REBECCA REIDER, Organic Winegrowers New Zealand

Dubbed The Organic Wine Future, the event offered the chance to learn the why and how of growing and making wine through purely organic methods.

The symposium, the first of its kind, was sponsored by Organic Winegrowers New Zealand, an incorporated society of growers around the country who are keen to share with their peers that growing grapes without the use of synthetic chemicals is not only possible, it is profitable.

It also makes for fantastic wine, as most attendees would have testified at the wine tasting at the day's end, when a wide variety of wines from the country's leading organic wineries were on offer for sampling.

As wineries look to produce a higher quality product and meet the increasingly high expectations of environmental stewardship from international markets, more and more wine producers are exploring the organic route. Last spring, there were more than 530 hectares of certified organic vineyard land in New Zealand. With a new round of converts being certified this winter, some in the industry estimate that figure is doubling.

And so the audience of both organic and non-organic growers at the symposium listened closely as leading lights of the organic industry explained all facets of organic production, from building healthy soils, to managing insect pests, to cost structures and marketing.

Organic produce has seen 20 per cent steady year-on-year growth in international markets over the last twenty years; and consumers from all income categories buy organic produce.
This was the message of speaker Mark Houghton-Brown, a highly successful farmer who pioneered large-scale organic farming and branding in the U.K. in the 1980s and shared his international perspective on organic markets.

However, he also pointed out that “just because you grow an organic grape doesn't mean someone's going to want to buy it” and that creative marketing is key.
“It's not easy, it's a journey of discovery, but the market is growing very fast,” he said.

Steve Wratten, director of the Centre for Bio-Protection at Lincoln University and a leading world expert on biological pest control, drove home the message that growers can gain major savings in cost and effort by learning to work with nature rather than against it.

Vineyards can greatly reduce pest control costs if they get nature working with them. Professor Wratten explained how vineyards can create environments that provide a happy home to predatory insects, which are harmless to vines but feed on the most troublesome vineyard pests.

By sowing flowers such as Alyssum, Phacelia, and buckwheat between vine rows, which provide both shelter and food for beneficial bugs, vineyards can attract and keep the good insects around and thus keep the destructive ones in check. (In contrast, pesticides unintentionally kill these beneficial insects).

For example, Wratten's research group has found that sowing $2 worth of buckwheat in one of every ten vine rows attracts parasitic wasps which feed on leaf-roller caterpillars, taking leaf-roller damage below the threshold of economic damage and saving $200 per hectare per year in pesticide costs.
Through the Greening Waipara project, Wratten, his colleagues, and local vineyards in that region have planted a total of over 22,000 native plants to attract beneficial native insects back into the area's vineyards, and with great success.

One of the most reassuring panels for those new to organics was a collection of short talks from growers and winemakers who have converted to organic production in recent years.

These ranged from small family owned vineyards to Pernod Ricard, which has 51 ha in organic grapes in Marlborough. Growers described their challenges and particularly the need for a proactive stance in organics to prevent pest and disease problems before they occur.
“It's just the whole mindset you change,” said viticulturist Doug Holmes of Grove Mill, describing the increased need for monitoring of conditions in the vineyard, and the importance of listening to staff observations of what they see happening in the vines.

However, Clive Dougall, winemaker at Seresin Estate, who praised the quality of organic grapes, summarised the opinion of the growers and winemakers on the panel: “Once you open the door to organics you never shut it again.”

Although organic may not be the answer for mass-produced machine-picked wines, for all of these growers and winemakers it seemed to be a highly fulfilling way to create a high quality product which is true to its terroir.

Another of the important messages of the day was that great wine begins in great soil. Australian wine critic Max Allen, a strong proponent of organic and biodynamic wines, showed slides of soils from adjoining Australian vineyard blocks that had been managed through biodynamic and conventional chemical regimes; the superior structure and rich colour of the biodynamically managed soil was obvious.

Biodynamic growers, in addition to standard organic practices, use minute quantities of special natural preparations to subtly enhance their growing systems from the ground up. Gareth King, viticulturist at biodynamic vineyard Felton Road in Central Otago, explained the use of cover crops to increase the health of the soil and emphasised the importance of maintaining good structure and building organic matter in soils, by practising crop rotation, retaining crop residues, applying compost, and restricting tractor movements.

Finally, with the evidence clearly mounting that organic winegrowing is pragmatically do-able, one question remained in everyone's minds: the bottom line. Is organic production actually economically viable as well, in tough economic times?

Jonathan Hamlet, vineyard manager for Villa Maria's organic block in Hawke's Bay, took the podium to provide detailed data to support a resounding “yes” to that question. Villa Maria managers have kept annual records comparing the operating costs per hectare for their organic and conventionally managed blocks side by side in both Hawke's Bay and Marlborough.

Jonathan presented detailed figures to show that though Villa Maria's organic blocks spend more on weed management - due to the need for mechanical weeding instead of herbicides - they also spend less on pest and disease control. In Hawke's Bay, Villa's organic vineyards have proven only slightly more expensive to run, while in Marlborough the organic regime has actually proven cheaper to operate than the conventional.

There was an animated buzz at the theatre by the time it came time to taste the wines, in a packed hall amongst displays from more than two dozen suppliers of certified organic input products and related services.

From biological fertilisers and seaweed sprays to mechanical weeders, organic production has grown to the point where a thriving support industry now exists to offer an array of options to growers looking to make the switch.
The product suppliers co-sponsored the event, which was also funded with government seed money from Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ), the national organic sector body, and with additional support from Seresin Estate, Marlborough Organics, and Agrissentials.

Derek Broadmore, chair of OANZ, and Philip Manson, Science and Innovations Manager of New Zealand Winegrowers, were also both on hand to address the crowd and support the symposium.

The Organic Wine Future symposium was only the most public part of a two day event dedicated to celebrating and learning about organics. That night featured a four course dinner for 75 people at Wither Hills Winery, featuring New Zealand's best organic produce, with a full suite of organic wines to match of course.

The following day saw two day-long workshops: one on the subtle science of biodynamics; and one on the ins and outs of organic certification, with representatives from New Zealand's four organic certifying agencies on hand to field questions from the increasing number of growers considering organic certification in this country.

Note: To order a copy of the full Organic Wine Future symposium proceedings, to join Organic Winegrowers New Zealand, or for more information on organic winegrowing and future events, contact Rebecca Reider on organicrebecca@xtra.co.nz  phone 03 525 6111.