Six top-rated organic aperitifs that will make you look like a wine expert

We bring you six outstanding organic aperitifs that are so rare they will make you look like the most knowledgeable eco-conscious wine lover out there.

Hailing from this year’s Organic Masters by the drinks business, the following six wines all received a Gold medal in the competition, which saw over 150 wines judged by highly-experienced tasters over the course of one day in London.

Importantly, all the entries in the competition are judge ‘blind’, ensuring that the judges have no knowledge of the identity of each wine beyond its price band and basic style.

As a result, this tasting, which is the only blind tasting competition for organic wines from every corner of the world, allowed the obscure to rub shoulders with the famous, providing an unrivalled chance to draw attention to hidden gems, as well as confirm the excellence of the renowned.

And this year’s tasting certainly highlighted some unusual sources of excellence, such as Mallorca and Montilla – along with England – although there were some more familiar areas of top quality wines too, such as Provence and Champagne.

So read on to find out six brilliant but little-known wines that would make an ideal aperitif for the eco-conscious imbiber, while you can read more about the Organic Masters, including the full list of medal-winners, here.

6. Oliver Moragues Blanc

Region: Mallorca, Spain
Vintage: 2017
Grape varieties: Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Prensal Blanc
Approx retail price (UK): £12
Medal in the Organic Masters 2018: Gold

If you are in search of a hidden organic vinous gem that won’t break the bank then you need look no further than this delicious, fruity, layered white wine from Mallorca.

Marrying the native grape Prensal Blanc with French varieties Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc, this is quite a full-bodied style of wine that has no equivalent in the world of wine, let alone organic drinks, although its taste is reminiscent of the ripe whites of the northern Rhône.

Indeed, like great French wines made with Viognier, it combines a taste of stone fruit, especially apricot, with an appealing toasty finish – a result of the fact that Oliver Moragues lets the blend mature for a short period in new French oak.

5. Weingut im Zwölberich, Riesling Spätlese Trocken, Langenlonsheimer Steinchen, Alte Reben

Region: Nahe, Germany
Vintage: 2016
Grape variety: Riesling
Approx retail price (UK): £15
Medal in the Organic Masters 2018: Gold

Although a slight move up in terms of cost, this dry Riesling from Germany is another first-rate organic white that delivers an enormous amount of personality for the price, while also being a relative rarity in the wine world. From the less famous and tiny Nahe wine region, a combination of biodynamic farming and old vines has produced a wine of great concentration, with flavours of peach and ripe apple. However, because this Riesling is fermented to dryness, there is a lovely refreshing firm finish that balances the richer fruit characters at the wine’s core.

4. Domaine la Goujonne, Noémie Rosé

Region: Provence, France
Vintage: 2016
Grape varieties: Grenache (50%), Cinsault (45%), Syrah (5%)
Approx retail price (UK): £20
Medal in the Organic Masters 2018: Gold

With pink wines from Provence very much in vogue, this aperitif may not rival the white from Mallorca for obscurity, however, within the rosé category, organic wine is fairly rare. Not only that, but Domaine la Goujonne is a small organic-only producer, while this top cuvée, Noémie, is unusual in that it is fermented in oak barriques.

And it is this latter point that explains the initial scent of the wine, which has a creamy, nutty character. The palate meanwhile displays more conventional red berry fruit and sweet peach, although a touch of oak-influence remains. In short, it is an excellent and complex style of rosé, that could happily be sipped as an aperitif, or served to complement a range of light foods.

3. Bodegas Robles Piedra Luenga Bio Fino

Region: Montilla-Moriles, Spain
Vintage: NV
Grape variety: Pedro Ximénez
Approx retail price (UK): £10
Medal in the Organic Masters 2018: Gold

One of the world’s greatest ways to start a meal is to indulge in the dry, salty refreshment of Fino sherry. And with this example from Bodegas Robles, one can enjoy such a pleasure safe in the knowledge that it comes with sound eco principles – the wine has been produced using 100% organically-certified grapes, which is a rarity in the sherry category.

Aged for a minimum of two years in old American oak casks under a protective natural-forming coating of flor – which is a film of yeast – this wine combines flavours of freshly-sliced apple with an almond-like character, and finishes with a lovely salty tang that is so typical of good Fino.

2. Albury Vineyard organic sparkling rosé

Region: Surrey Hills, England
Vintage: 2015
Grape varieties: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier
Approx retail price (UK): £33
Medal in the Organic Masters 2018: Gold

It’s often said that English fizz can now compete on qualitative terms with Champagne, but it’s very rare to see anything bearing the organic tag from either region. And here we have a pink sparkling wine from the Surrey Hills that uses organically-grown grapes to excellent effect.

The wine, which hails from the 2015 vintage, is extremely pale for a rosé, but displays a delicious combination of ripe crushed strawberries and gently creamy, bready characters, along with a refreshing rhubarb-flavoured bite on the finish, and a dry, cleansing, chalky sensation.

A surprising quality find in the small world of organic sparkling wines.

1. Champagne Leclerc Briant, Abyss

Region: Champagne, France
Vintage: 2012
Grape varieties: Pinot Noir (33%), Pinot Meunier (33%), Chardonnay (33%)
Approx retail price (UK): £150
Medal in the Organic Masters 2018: Gold

Having just mentioned that English sparkling wine can rival Champagne for quality, it was fitting that another wonderful find from this year’s Organic Masters should be a fizz from the famous French region.

Not only that, but a sample from the biodynamic Leclerc Briant, a long-standing brand resurrected in 2012 by American investors, and curated by respected sparkling winemaker Hervé Jestin.

Although this producer’s range of Champagnes are excellent, it was the new cuvée Abyss that gained a top score, a blend that has – in an unusual move – been aged at the bottom of the sea.

This bone-dry fizz comes in a bottle complete with bits of the sea-bed still attached in a clever move to prove its authenticity and create a totally unique appearance among sparkling wines.

An unconventional, delicious, and pricy way to surprise and excite the ethical wine lover.

About the Organic Masters

All the wines featured above hailed from the Organic Masters, which is a competition created and run by the drinks business, and an extension of its successful Masters series for grape varieties such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, as well as regions such as Rioja and Champagne.

The competition is exclusively for wines that are certified organic or made with certified organically-grown grapes, and also includes certified biodynamic wines.

The entries were judged by a selection of highly experienced tasters using Schott Zwiesel Cru Classic glasses supplied by Wine Sorted over the course of a single day on 22 June at Opera Tavern in London.

The judges are pictured above and were (left to right): Sam Caporn MW; Patricia Stefanowicz MW; Susan McCraith MW; Alistair Cooper MW; Beverly Tabbron MW; Patrick Schmitt MW, and Clement Robert MS.

To enter a wine in the competition, please click here.

For more information on the Organic Masters or any of the competitions in the Global Masters series, please call or email Chloe Béral, tel, +44 (0)207 803 2420, email, chloe@thedrinksbusiness.com