Hurray for Organic Methods

I was very pleased to learn that in the 46th edition of Vinitaly in Verona, March 25-28, there will be for the first time a sector dedicated to organic and bio-dynamic producers. This will offer visibility to many small winemakers and is a true sign of the times. Personally, I have always held in high regard those producers who seek to demonstrate their respect for the land through viticulture and winemaking practices which are only slightly if at all invasive.
When I was responsible for Gambero Rosso's Vini d'Italia guide I invented a 'three green glasses' category and together with Gigi Piumati, who at the time was running Slow Food, we created a prize for 'sustainable viticulture' which was awarded to famous winemakers and experts who adopted organic or bio-dynamic methods. This in consideration of the fact that those who choose to work in a way which respects the environment do so for ethical reasons, those which go beyond immediate economic convenience, thus demonstrating a sense of responsibility and greater interest for sustainable production practices as opposed to just profits.

This said and done I would also like to say, as Carlo Petrini argued in his most convincing book, that 'clean' and 'right', in other words sustainable and ethical, must in the case of wine and food also be organoleptically 'good'. It is not enough to adopt sustainable methods, these processes must also lead to a result which can be appreciated, equal to or better than what can be obtained using other processes.
There are many examples of great, at times even very great, wines made using bio-dynamic viticulture methods. To start with there is the legendary Romanée Conti, then the wines of Joly, Selosse, Chave, Zind Humbrecht, just to name a few of the top tier.
In Italy we have the wines of Alessandro Dettori, Moreno Petrini of Tenuta di Valgiano, Querciabella, Elena Pantaloni's Stoppa wines, those of Elisabetta Foradori in Trentino and Ruggero Brunori and Andrea Salvetto at the Cascina La Pertica on Lake Garda, and from the Tenuta Manincor of Caldaro.
Then there are people like Francesco Valentini and Josko Gravner who are neither organic nor bio-dynamic producers but are simply on a different planet for their commitment to sustainable winemaking.
All these wineries confirm that it is possible to produce splendid wines by adopting organic or bio-dynamic practices or, in any case, respecting the environment. The wines they produce are thus 'good', 'clean' and 'right'. The difference may be subtle, but it is absolutely decisive.
It is my sincere hope that those who are committed more than others to respecting the environment in the winemaking sector will be able to increase the number of organoleptically valid wines to stand on the same level as those made by others who unfortunately, perhaps tied ideologically to various mentalities, produce 'folkloristic' wines which claim to be the only ones which are truly 'clean' and 'right'.