Have you ever wondered why a couple of glasses of certain wines give you a blinding headache while others leave you unaffected?
Well, it just might be down to what's in it.
Wine corporations bombard us with images of lush, juicy grapes and picturesque hillside vineyards, so it's clear they'd like us to believe it's a wholly natural product.
But in Channel 4's "Dispatches: What's In Your Wine?" we discover the unpalatable truth that certain non-organic producers put shocking ingredients in your wine.
See the Dispatches film here.
1) Artificial flavourings and additives to mimic the taste of the grape
2) Systemic chemicals sprayed onto the vines, leaving residues in the wine.
3) More than just bubbles in our champagne
Where there's brass there's often muck and, in a bid to boost profits, it seems that some non-organic wine is now so industrially processed that one critic has dubbed it no better than an "alcoholic cola."
So what's in your wine other than grapes? See the Dispatches film here.
By Roy Cook.
Seddlescombe Organic Vinyard is the First English to go supercharged.
Sometimes known as supercharged or premium organic, the East Sussex vineyard is to be the first in England to produce wine using biodynamic principles.
Seddlescombe Organic was established 30 years ago as England’s first organic wine producer. Roy Cook, owner and wine maker at Sedlescombe Vineyard has taken the next step in sustainability by adopting the biodynamic cultivation method and its philosophy.
He is quoted as saying -“For me, the challenge of creating high quality wines within a balanced and diverse ecology has always been my objective; the long term sustainability and more carbon neutral approach offered by introducing biodynamics seems a natural progression to this goal.”
While all the normal organic rules still apply, additional procedures, based on the creation of naturally fermented substances, have now been introduced at Sedlescombe. These solutions are applied to increase microbial activity, either to the soil directly or via specially prepared compost. Special quartz based sprays are also applied to increase light absorption and enhance grape sugar levels.
A key and somewhat controversial aspect to the biodynamic method is the timing of spraying, pruning and planting activities, which follow a calendar based on lunar and cosmic movements. Roy Cook however is not fazed by the timing demands – “Some of the most prestigious organic vineyards on the planet are biodynamic – from Frick in France to Milton in New Zealand and every wine producing country in between – I am convinced the method works and am proud to be the first to produce biodynamic wines in England”
To visit the website: www.englishorganicwine.co.uk
