Woollaston Estates goes organic

Woollaston Estates has joined a small but expanding group of organically certified vineyards in Nelson.

The Mahana winegrower, which this year will process about 300 tonnes of grapes, has just achieved full certification for both its 50 hectares of vineyards and its winery, after three years of careful auditing by Bio-Gro NZ.

Last week's pick of pinot noir for its sparkling wine base produced the first certified organic grapes to go into its winery.

Company director Philip Woollaston said it was the "exciting culmination" of a long process.

"Growing grapes organically involves a certain amount of risk, but the results – better vine health and purer wines – are well worth it.

"The reason we started doing this is in our assessment of wines around the world, a significant proportion of the best were organic and often biodynamic."

Bio-Gro certification meant that the company could use only certified naturally derived products and no herbicides or synthetic fertiliser, he said, and was now capable of producing wines which meet the organic standards of export markets in the European Community, United States, Canada and some Asian countries, as well as New Zealand.

The external auditing programme provided by Bio-Gro was a "very good way of keeping ourselves honest and an independent yardstick to measure ourselves against".

The company had sought certification because more consumers were paying attention to what they put into their bodies and within a few years industry body Winegrowers NZ would require all vineyards to be in some sort of externally audited programme, such as sustainable winegrowing or an organic one, he said. While it might open up some small and select markets, such as organic restaurants and chains of shops, certification was not a silver bullet, Mr Woollaston said.

Returns for organic wine were not particularly higher, but ultimately relied on quality.

"You still have to make excellent wine to get a good price."

Bio-Gro technical director Seager Mason agreed, saying going organic didn't guarantee premium prices but it did help protect existing markets and open some new ones because it gave consumers another reason to buy.

Vineyard manager Julian Coakley said certification was not the end of the process. "We still have a lot to learn and are improving our methods all the time."

Though not a registered biodynamic producer, the company was also using some biodynamic practices and preparations, he said.

"I am convinced that working proactively with ecological processes to build rich soil which is full of life is the key to healthy, resilient vines."

Woollaston joins organic pioneer Richmond Plains, Sunset Valley Vineyard and Partington Wines as certified organic winegrowers in Nelson, while several others, including Greenhough, are going through the process.