Wine: organic wine that’s worth a detour

Too many wines labelled organic taste no different from conventional wines, but some are well worth seeking out

Might I be doing anything about organic wine for Organic September, a reader asked the other day. Hmmm, well, possibly, but to be honest, I'm not totally convinced. Too many wines labelled organic taste no different from conventional wines, which shouldn't really come as a surprise, because the certification relates only to what goes on in the vineyard. It doesn't stop winemakers using identikit commercial yeasts or adding significant amounts of sulphur, tartaric acid, enzymes, tannin or any of the other bags of tricks available to them. No wonder many producers don't feel it's an advantage to register as organic.

Still, I do realise there's a demand for organic wines (I don't want to pour unnecessary chemicals down my throat, either), so where do you go to find them, especially when even specialists such as Vintage Roots don't always have the interesting wines you might expect? I really want to like Wild Thing Sauvignon Blanc (7.85; 12% abv), from La Mancha, for example, not least because a donation from the sale price goes to the Born Free Foundation to aid conservation, but it's just a bit, well, dull. The subtle, soave-ish Lugana Catulliano 2014 (12% abv) at 11.50 is much more appealing; or, for those keen to avoid added sulphur, try Jean Claude Mas's Cuvi(C)e Secrite (9.75; 14% abv), a lush, full-bodied blend of merlot and cabernet franc from the Languedoc.