Should we only be drinking biodynamic and organic wine?

A sommelier gives us his personal take on newer world wines that are gaining traction

Text: Charissa G

A chef once told me that organic isn’t always better. I looked at him sceptically and asked, “Then why are most of your ingredients organic?” 

“Because people are happy to pay a much bigger premium for it,” he laughed. 

Over the years we’ve been led to believe that anything labelled ‘organic’ or ‘sustainable’ is infinitely better for our health and wellbeing. But what about the ancient art of wine-growing? The wine industry has been greatly modernised and also commodified over the years and now is — in a way — returning to its roots with the growing education and hence popularity of organic, biodynamic and sustainable wines. Have we actually been drinking ‘badly’ all these years? 

We had a chat with award-winning sommelier, Alvin Neo of Mott 32 Singapore, who gave us his take on these newer new world wines. 

Hi Alvin! Can you explain the differences between natural and biodynamic wines? Are these wines always organic? 

Let’s start with the term biodynamic, which is defined as an ecological and holistic approach to farming. It was advocated by Dr. Rudolf Stenier, who was both a scientist and philosopher. The idea with biodynamic wines is to regard the environment, and in our case — the vineyard — as a whole living entity, therefore employing a set of self-sustainable farming practices that follow the lunar calendar. 

The main idea is not to use foreign matters that cannot be found from the environment, so no chemical fertilisers and pesticides can be used.

Natural wines are farmed organically or even biodynamically in the vineyard and made without adding or removing anything in the cellar/winery. Again, the idea is to have as little intervention as possible, which is why sometimes these are also referred to as minimal intervention wines. For natural wines, the processes such as additives, fining or over-filtration are minimised. 

And yes, these wines would always be organic.

Do organically grown grapes make wine “better” for you? 

Whether it’s ‘better’ or not is up to the individual. At the end of the day, only quality grapes are harvested and sorted before the wine making process starts; it’s what the winemakers add or what methods they use that will change the end product — be it more sulfites, different fining agents or even stirring of lees in oak barrels. Do remember that wine is defined as an alcoholic drink made from fermented grape juice which means there must be a minimum level of sugar for the grape juice to be converted into wine. This means that organic or not, there is no difference in the physiological ripeness of the grapes. 

In your opinion, is it more sustainable to drink biodynamic and natural wines?  

In the past, I would say no as it costs a lot for a wine producer to produce wines organically, hence the selling price will definitely be much higher as well. Now the movement is trending and getting more traction. With more awareness amongst the consumers, it is definitely working out for both the wine producers and wine drinkers. 

Have you seen more requests from customers for organic / natural / biodynamic wines at Mott 32? 

These wine styles have been trending in Singapore for probably only the past five years in Singapore, and we see this most from the 20 to 35 years old age group: experimental drinkers who are willing to try new styles and new flavours.

What about your personal tastes? 

A lot of wine producers make organic / natural / biodynamic wines but do not apply for the certifications. There are fees involved, a long period of observation, document submissions and many other issues. Most of the wine producers are farmers and the cost is prohibitive. There’s also the danger of losing the certifications on a bad harvest year, which will create an even greater negative impact to the brand.  

So, for me, I prefer traditionally produced wines where there are many different styles and flavours, most of which have very long traditions and history. Natural wine styles are just the tip of the iceberg and I believe people will keep on exploring. The best way to find out your preference? Taste more wines!

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