Here's a short list of some of our most popular organic wines.
A very drinkable, fruity vin de pays from sunny SW France in a half-litre bottle. Made from a blend of local grape varieties, it's got nice ripe berry flavours and a slightly spicy edge. Ideal for those less indulgent occasions!
Grape Varieties: Merlot/Grenache/Carignan
A cheap, appealing and highly drinkable blend made for early drinking in a very open and fruity style, it comes from Jacques Frelin's second estate, Domaine de Savignac. Price and quality make this our best-selling red.
Grape Varieties: Cinsault/Carignan/Syrah/Merlot
An easy drinking red with a nice mid-red burgundy colour and captivating aromas of blackcurrant, cinnamon and allspice. Warm and plummy yet at the same time rather bright and breezy. Great value and good glugging.
Grape Varieties: Carignan/Alicante/Grenache
A fruit-laden Midi red which represents superb value. Medium bodied with a chewy, ripe fruit flavour and spicy bouquet. A great all-rounder from Pierre Constant's estate at Monteils.
Grape varieties: Carignan/Grenache/Syrah
Built on the remains of a Roman house, Domaine de Clairac looks out onto a limestone plateau. From these dry, shallow soils near Béziers comes this light to medium bodied, ripe fruity red, which represents excellent value. A very popular blend which is ideal for everyday drinking.
Grape varieties: Syrah/Grenache/Cinsault/Carignan
From the foothills of the Cevennes comes this keenly-priced country red which is smooth and accessible. Hints of cherry and some soft herbal notes on the nose, with an easy mellow style.
Grape varieties: Cinsault/Carignan/Syrah
Organic Wine, alcoholic beverage made from the juice of grapes. During fermentation, microscopic single-celled organisms called yeasts digest sugars found in fruit juice, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide gas in the process. Although grapes are the most common fruit used to make wine, wine is also made from the fermented juice of pears, apples, berries, and even flowers such as dandelions. Wine naturally contains about 85 to 89 percent water, 10 to 14 percent alcohol, less than 1 percent fruit acids, and hundreds of aroma and flavor components in very small amounts. Wine character — its taste and smell — is derived from many factors including the grapes it is made from, where they were grown, and the production techniques applied by the wine maker, or enologist.
The practice of making organic wine is as old as our most ancient civilizations, and wine has played a central role in human culture for more than 8,000 years. In contrast to most foods and beverages that spoil quickly or that can spread disease, organic wine does not spoil if stored properly. The alcohol in organic wine, called ethanol, is present in sufficient concentrations to kill disease-causing microorganisms, and throughout history, wine was often safer to drink than water or milk. This property was so significant that before the connection between microorganisms, poor sanitation, and disease was understood, ancient civilizations regarded wine as a gift from the gods because it protected against disease.
The main grapevine cultivated for wine production is the European wine grape, Vitis vinifera. Native to areas along the Black, Caspian, and Mediterranean seas, today there are more than 5,000 varieties of Vitis vinifera grown in the world. Because this grape plant prefers warm, dry summers and mild winters, successful cultivation is limited to temperate climates in both the northern and southern hemispheres. The most popular red varieties in the United States are zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, grenache, merlot, and pinot noir. The most popular white grapes are colombard, chardonnay, chenin blanc, and sauvignon blanc. Other noticable organic wines are Australian and South African wine.
Natural factors make wine from a particular region unique. Known in the wine industry as terroir, these factors include local climate (temperature, rainfall, and sunlight), location of grapevines (altitude and slope), and soil (structure, composition, and water drainage). In general, a grapevine produces the best fruit when the moderate climate provides much sunshine and cool nights without frost, and the soil is well drained. Grapevines grow best in sandy, chalky, or rocky soils.
(c) Copyright 2005 Organic Wines Ltd