Europe embraces organic viticulture

As much as 6% of France’s total vineyard coverage is set to be certified organic within a few months time, following a rapid increase in conversions in recent years.

Speaking at Millésime Bio in Montpellier on 25 January, Elizabeth Mercier of France Agence Bio said that the amount of land in conversion to organic shows an almost exponential rate of growth in some French regions, especially in Languedoc-Roussillon.

Languedoc-Roussillon’s organic vineyard coverage increased by 51.9% from 2008 to 2009 (the last date for which statistics are available), Rhône-Alpes by 50.8%, Aquitaine by 45.2%, Burgundy by 43.2% and Provence-Alpes-Côtes d’Azur by 34.6%.

The national growth was 38.9% to a total of 39,116 hectares. Growth is slowest in the North and West, where climate makes organic viticulture much more of a challenge. Organic vineyards in the Pays de la Loire grew by just 7.1% over the same period. Alsace also showed a relatively modest increase of 13.5%.

Italy is showing steady growth, with around 43,600 hectares in 2009 (rising to around 46,000 hectares in 2010), but has been overtaken by Spain, which now has the largest area of organic vineyards in Europe with around 54,000 hectares in 2009 (though Italy makes more wine).

However, as Juan Sojo of the Spanish Association of Organic Winegrowers (SEAE), admitted, although the increase in Spanish vineyard land certified as organic has been dramatic over the last few years, the Spanish figures are somewhat confused and unreliable.

In both Spain and Italy it is also clear that many growers who grow grapes organically do not bother to seek certification for a variety of reasons. Cristina Micheloni of the AIAB, Italy’s Organic Wine Association, observed: “Some producers don’t seek certification because they still fear that the market believes that organic equals lesser quality.” She claimed that 60% of Chianti Classico vineyards are farmed organically.

European exports to the potentially lucrative US market are hampered, say growers’ organisations, by the failure of the European Union to agree a definition of organic wine and the standards by which it may be vinified. In the meantime, the FNIVAB (the French National Association of Organic Wine Produce) has introduced a voluntary national charter, which imposes lower levels of SO2 than those proposed by the stalled European legislation.

Micheloni argued that organic producers face an increasingly difficult task in making clear to consumers just what organic wine really is and how it may be differentiated from categories such as  vino vero and vino autentico as well as sustainable production and carbon neutrality.

Helen Savage, 02.02.2011