Green Wine

from Essential Magazine May 2022

Breathe in Marbella

Wines used to be red, white, and rosé, period. Yet recently our lives have become more complicated by the addition of a new colour spectrum: orange, blue, and green, but it is only this last that causes confusion. Is it reasonable to assume that ‘green wines’ are those that, in common with many manufactured products, are eco-friendly? Portuguese Vinho Verde is not green, despite its name, and confusion often arises from ‘green’ being used here to describe a fizzy wine. Spanish terms don’t help either, as such wines are known as vinos de aguja – ‘needle wines’ (e.g. Blanc Pescador) conveying the slightly prickly effect of the first taste. Better to stick with the good old Anglo-Saxon idea that if it’s green it’s fresh. Single variety, red and rosé Vinho Verde wines also exist, just to complicate matters.

It is not surprising that wine drinkers are becoming confused by the new categories of wine that have been trickling down lately. Anyone reluctant to continue with the same drinking habits they may have known for the last five decades will find themselves with a quagmire of bewildering choices. Wine is no longer simply wine, ergo, fermented juice of grapes, as it has been since the first qvevri was filled in Georgia. It is natural, organic, sustainable, and vegan. The bottom line is that these confusing terms have not been introduced to enlighten drinkers. They have been introduced to sell them more wine. Offshoots of what can be called the main business, specifically organics, only account for around 6 per cent of overall world consumption, but the trade’s idea is to increase their significance and as a result their overall sales figures.

CAN WINE BE GREEN?

WORDS ANDREW J LINN

Organic wines must be made with grapes that are grown organically, although there is nothing to stop a vintner using non-organic materials in the post-fermentation process. Ideally the production eschews the use of chemicals and fertilisers – to varying degrees. If a bodega wishes to officially convert to organic winemaking it must go through an extended adaptation process that may take as long as three to five years, with no income from sales during that time. Sulphites are not allowed to be added, but of course occur naturally, so any clandestine introduction of additional sulphur is hard to detect. Since it helps prolong bottle life, it is a desirable extra. Because of the costs and inconvenience and the need for certification by official organisations, it is understandable that many wineries claim to produce their wines organically but prefer not to spend money being certified as such.

Biodynamics is considered by many to be a load of codswallop, but if proof to the converse is required, witness the many wellknown French Bordeaux chateaux that have opted to follow this route: high single figures and increasing yearly. Notably, Gérard Bertrand has thus far converted 600 of his 800 hectares Languedoc vineyards across 12 of his 14 estates to the earthfriendly method, not only because he believes in it but because he swears it yields better wine.

Vegan and vegetarian wines speak for themselves, and most wine ever drunk in all history meets today’s criteria – except when it comes to additives used for fining, or clarifying the wine – originally egg whites and fish bladders, until these items became too expensive and were replaced by a type of clay made from volcanic ash. Natural wine is a minefield and there is as yet no clear definition as to what can be classified thus. Ideally the only raw materials used are grapes and natural yeasts, period, and supporters argue that any wine made with additional materials cannot be termed natural. In a 2019 Financial Times article, wine writer Jancis Robinson posed a provocative question: ‘Why is natural wine so divisive?’ She meant why is there such a deep rift between those who drink, produce, and sell wine made without pesticides or additives and traditional wineries? Most members of the natural wine movement will accept that the process requires the use of organic or biodynamic farming techniques, fermentation without added yeast or sugar, and no filtration. Logically there are also those who believe the use of minimal sulphites can be considered ‘natural’. Many uphold that only zero-zero wines are really natural, resulting in the use of the term ‘low-intervention’, that accepts that a light touch from the vintner is needed to produce the final product, but not how this is done. e